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ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO. 



When he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of 
Zion, they shall sanctify ray name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, 
and fear the God of Israel.— Isaiah xxix— 23. 

The recollection of great events passes down through many 
generations. After a lapse of one or two, they are wont to be 
celebrated in some public manner. A century possesses nothing, 
in itself, that merits distinction from other numbers. Nor have 
one hundred, or a thousand years, any natural connection with 
the events that loom up from the past, in solemn and affecting 
reminiscence. They are but marked points, adopted for compu- 
tation, and affording appropriate occasion for the general consent, 
of those interested in them, to recall and profit by their remem- 
brance. 

The Lord himself has respected this tendency of our nature ; 
first in the feast of the passover ; and subsequently in the Jubi- 
lean festivals He instituted for Israel. Few things contributed 
so vastly, — to their patriotism, as citizens of the Jewish 
Commonwealth, — to their religion, as worshippers of the Most 
High, — and to the glory of the nation, and prosperity of their 
church, as the people of God. They distinguished them above 
all other people of antiquity; and they promoted, greatly, their 
knowledge of " the one only living and true God," and their 
enjoyment of His fellowship." 

The Saviour of sinners, also, has made this same tendency of 
our nature subservient to His own gracious designs. In the 
memorial-feast of the Lord's supper, we commemorate an event, 
the mo.«t astounding that has ever transpired in this fallen world, 
viz : His own death, by which He has accomplished "redemp- 
tion through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the 
riches of His grace." 



There i.s scaicelj a nation or people to be found, who have not 
some memorial usages, by which to renew the roeollection of 
great events; and more especially, of those connected with their 



onjiin. 



It is natural to rejoice, in the remembrance of what is praise- 
worthy and glorious. Sympathizing comp^mions in such re- 
membrances, give a zest to enjoyment. The social feeling thus 
awakened, is allied to some of the noblest of our nature. Under 
proper circumstances and restraints, it may be made to elevate 
the soul, to enlarge the thoughts, and to inspire with heroic and 
virtuous recollection. Statesmen and politicians, the kings and 
governors of earth, have availed themselves of its power, for ac- 
complishing their own purposes, and policy of administrative 
rule,— often selfish and corrupting, and never extending beyond 
this mortal sphere. 

We are indebted to the genial and transforming power of re- 
ligion for extending the sphere of our vision beyond the narrow 
limits of time and space immediately surrounding, and bearing 
us away from the mazy dreams of this fleeting world, to the noble 
and eternal realities existing beyond it. The Sabbath, by its 
regular weekly recurrence, when its grand uses and designs are 
understood, tends, sweetly and powerfully, to lift our souls out 
from the low precincts of earth, to the grandeur above ; from 
the fellowship of mortals like ourselves, into communion with the 
Infinite Eternal God, the angelic hosts around His throne, and 
the lofty minds of "the spirits of just men made perfect in 
Heaven." 

Commemorative festivals of a religious character, especially 
when divinely sanctioned, possess great moral and social power 
They are among the bright gala days of social enjoyment on earth 
and may be made blessed seasons of communion with Heaven' 
Such be the use and bliss of that we this day celebrate ' The 
reminiscence of what God hath wrought in connection with and 
by means of this church, of our Lord Jesus Christ, endeared to 
us all by very tender ties, should swell our hearts with orateful 

joy- " 

In difi-erent countries of Europe, and of the Oriental World 
they are wont to look back through a thousand and a still o-reater 
number of years, to the period when the nation became Christian 



or passed, from a pagan, savage, or barbarous state, under the 
civilizing power of the religion of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
Christ. We celebrate not the coronation of a King or Emperor, 
some five hundred, one thousand, or fifteen hundred years ago, 
as an event which changed the aspect of society, and started the 
nation in a new career of civilization and improvement. Nor do 
we commemorate the birth of a Christian hero, like Luther or 
Zwingle or Calvin or Knox, who broke the shackles of supersti- 
tious despotism, and invoked the world to liberty. Nor do we 
recall the memory of our beloved Washington, as is the nation 
wont to do, upon his natal day. Nor do we anticipate, so near 

at hand, 

"The day 
When Independence celebrates her birth, 
The Jubilee of Freedom, yearly kept ! 
A nation rising from its rest secure ; 
A nation, which hath never worn a crown, 
A land which hath not held a throne, or felt 
The foot of king, or seen his purple robe, 
Sends up its voice with one loud shout of joy !" 

Ours is a simpler and rarer season of re-union. As brethren 
and friends in Christ, we come to celebrate, in this our old home- 
stead, the deeds of our sires, who laid its first and strong founda- 
tions. In expressing my own, I do but tender the cordial greet- 
ings, singularly and reciprocally, of all assembled within these 
hallowed walls, of many of whom it can be said, in relation to their 
regenerated and nobler life, "this, and that man was born in her." 
The beloved pastor of this church has prepared the statistical de- 
tails. The part allotted to me for the occasion, is the gj:neral 
HISTORY. To this, with appropriate remarks suggested by it and 
the occasion, your attention is now invited. 

July 1st, one hundred years ago, the first stone was laid for the 
rearing of this grand old ' meeting house," which yet holds proud 
rank, as an architectural work of the olden time, among the more 
gaudy and gorgeous structures of our own day. (a) Its window-arches 
of white hewn stone and neatly bevelled, its heavy foundation 
stones, and tiers of superincumbent lighter size, taken from the 
blue transition lime-stone underlying the soil extensively in this 

(a) See Appendix marked A. 



region, and roughly picked and squared, togetlier witli tlie 
admirable proportions of the entire edifice, constitute it — as the 
accomplished architect who constructed the Capitol building of 
this State at Ilarrisburg, once in admiration declared to nie — one 
of the purest and most attractive specimens of the Grceco-Ro- 
niano style he had ever witnessed, far excelling, in chasteness and 
symmetry, the imperfect imitations — or rather caricatures — of 
the (xotliic, so extensively attempted, of late years, in the United 
States. The projector and his coadjutor deserve our praise, as 
well as excite our wonder, for the bold daring of their purpose to 
erect a building on the very borders of a savage wilderness, so 
far in advance of the place and of the age. Its interior was 
finished after the fashion of places of worship in Scotland and 
the North of Ireland, extensively ado])ted by the early emigrants 
who migrated thence into Pennsylvania. The building is a 
parallelogram, well proportioned. Originalh', the pulpit was on 
the northern and one of the larger sides, centrall}^ situated be- 
tween two lai'ge arched-windows, equi-distant from either end, 
ascending from the lower to the higher part of the wall, and 
furnishing light and free circulation of air, both to the first and 
second stories, fronting the area between the galleries, which 
formed the nave of the building. A small window, immediately 
in the rear of the pulpit, and in the center of richly paneled 
wainscot work, aiforded light and air to the preacher, over whose 
head drooped an ornamented sounding-board pendant from the 
ceiling, yet gracefuU}'^ ornamented with the cornice and frieze of 
the panel work upon the wall. It was of size sufficient to 
hold three ministers. In front of it, immediately starting from 
its base, was a "clerk's desk." elevated some eighteen inches or 
two feet above the tops of the pews, which the precentor occupied, 
and in which he rose to " line out" or read each line of the Psalm, 
and by his loud, sonorous voice lead the vocal praise of the con- 
gregation, most of whom took the words from his previous utter- 
ance of them, in the absence of books then not abundant or 
easily to be obtained. The stairway to the pulpit started from 
the end and door of the clerk's desk and enclosure, and ascending 
to a square landing, level with the tops of the pews, turned thence 
at a right angle, from which two or three steps led into the 
minister's enclosure, as many feet above the precentor's. The 



pulpit, desk, and stairway, were all enclosed in a square area, into 
which, entrance was had through a door, in keeping with and pre- 
senting in front the form and appearance of the general panel- 
work of the pews. On either side of this enclosure was a bench, 
like that in the pews, which aftbrded accommodation for the deaf, 
the infirm, weak and aged, or such members as received aid from the 
Deacons' fund, or had no other place to sit. Subsequent trans 
formations of the interior were made, of which vfe may have 
occasion in another place to speak. 

The church, or spiritual society, which first occupied this 
house, had been organized seventeen years before it was com- 
menced, and eleven before Carlisle was laid out. Their original 
place of worship was a log building, erected near the Conodogui- 
net creek, a few yards East of the burying ground, two miles 
West of this borough, on what was called "the Glebe," a farm of 
some hundred acres and more, granted by the proprietaries, for the 
pastor's use and in aid of the congregation. The red men of the forest 
yet roamed along the skirts of the Tayameutasackta or Kekaohtana- 
nim hills, thus differenily called by the five nations and the 
Delaware Indians, and by the early settlers, " the Blue Mountains." 
The extensive valley now known by the name of " Cumberland" — 
given to it from that of the County first organized in what was 
known, among the Indians and original emigrants, as the Kittoch- 
tinny— was the home and hunting-ground of the aboriginal sava- 
ges that dwelt and ranged from the Susquehanna to the Potomac, 
until, in 1736, they ceded their claim to the Proprietary Goverr- 
ment, and consented to settlements being made under its licenses. 
Fourteen years previously, a Frenchman and Indian interpreter, 
by the name of LeTort, had settled at the head of the beautiful 
spring(a) or stream that forms the eastern margin of this town, and 
from whom it has derived its name. On November 14th, of the 
same year that the Indians ceded their claim to the Valley, the 
Rev. Samuel Thompson, recently from the North of Ireland, was 
ordained and installed pastor by the Presbytery. He was the 
first minister that was settled in connection with this church, the 
Conodoguinet congregation uniting with that of " Pennsboro' " — 
where the Presbytery met— and the town, forming a collegiate 

((;) See Appendix mavked B. 



8 

charge. Twelve years after, he ceased his connection with this 
charge, and {ussumcd the care of the "Great ('onowago" congre- 
gation, where he continued until age disqualified him for eflfective 
labor. His son, the Rev. William Thompson, labored afterwards 
for many years as an itinerant missionary, under the direction of 
the " Society for the propagation of the Gospel in Foreign parts," 
in the Counties of York and Cumberland, and as late as 1766. 

The Colonial Government had erected a stockade Fort, occupy- 
ing " two acres of ground square, with a block-house in each 
corner,"* which, two years after the town of Carlisle was laid out, 
fell into ruins, and gave place to another of curious construction, 
within the pi*ecincts of the town, (a) that bore the name of Fort Lou- 
ther. It rendered important aid in defense of the early settlers 
against the Indians, whose savage cruelties and bloody massacres 
form such a striking feature in the early history of Kittochtinny 
Valley. A force of fifty men was stationed in it four years after 
the commencement of this town. About the same time, breast- 
works were erected to the North-East of the town, by Col. Stan- 
wix, the remains of which still exist. The present barrack build- 
ings succeeded at a later date these early fortifications. 

The early claim, which the French nation asserted by right 
of discovery, to the regions West of the Allegheny mountains ex- 
tending from the Lakes to the Ohio, hv.d the policy of the Jesuit 
missionaries, in concert with the Provisional Government in Can- 
ada, to take and maintain possession of it for France and the 
propagation of the Uoraan Catholic Idolatry, were opposed by 
England, and excited the jealousy and fears of the Indians. A 
treaty, it was said, had been made at Lancaster, in this State, in 
1744, between commissioners from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and 
Virginia, and the Iroquois or Six Nations, by which, for four 
hundred pounds, the latter gave up all right and title to the land 
West of the Allegheny mountains, even to the Mississippi, which, 
they maintained — according to their traditions — had been con- 
quered by their forefathers. These conflicting claims, on founda- 
tions whether imaginary or real, ripened into a series of wars, in 
the progress of which the early settlers of Middle and Western 
Pennsylvania greatly sufiered. 

♦ John CNeal's Letter to Governor Hamilton, dated May 2Tth, 1763. 
(a) See Appendix marked C. 

A I 



9 

The defeat of Gen. Braddock at Fort Duquesne, in 1755, his 
death, and the route of his shattered army, left the Western 
frontiers defenseless, and cast consternation and dismay among 
the settlers on the Eastern slope of the Allegheny mountains. The 
next year, the alarm became general throughout the Kittochtinny 
Valley. The garrison at Fort Cumberland was scarcely strong 
enough for self-defense. The roads were infested by savages. 
Horrors accumulated at "Winchester; an attack upon it was antici- 
pated, and the terrors of the people rose to agony. While Vir- 
ginia turned her eyes to Washington, and the people of the 
beautiful Valley of Shenandoah were flying to the older settle- 
ments, it was fast becoming desolate, and it fell to the lot of the 
infant town of Carlisle — but five years old — to furnish a noble 
hero, who afterwards became dear to the hearts of the American 
people, and whose zeal and courage, firing the spirits and directing 
the daring of the freemen of Cumberland County, accomplished, 
at Kittanning, one of the most able and splendid deeds of retali- 
ation which embellishes the pages of our Revolutionary history. 
Col. John Armstrong — whose remains lie in your cemetery, un- 
honored by any attractive tomb, and marked only by a plain and 
unpretending limestone slab — with a pai-ty of two hundred and 
eighty resolute men, by a rapid march of some two hundred miles, 
over lofty and rugged mountains, surprised and destroyed that 
nest of savages.(a) The Presbyterian Church, of which he was an 
elder, formed a bulwark ©f a different character from the stock- 
ade in the town. Their log meeting-house proved a sort of out- 
post for the picket-guard, but of great potency and influence 
among the early settlers who had planted themselves around it. 
Its pastor, in the time of danger, when threatened by savage foes, 
was not the man to fly from his post, or encourage his people to 
abandon their homes, but took command of one of the first com- 
panies organized for defense in 1755. 

From, and to some extent before, the Indian wars consequent 
on Braddock's defeat, the mild and just policy of the Proprietary 
■Government of Pennsylvania did not prevent deeds of bloodshed 
and horrible massacre by the savages. It was not always safe for 
the settlers to build their houses and dwell on the farms they 

(a) See Appendix marked D. 



10 

began to cultivate, nor does it appear to have been ever the plan 
and policy of the Pennsylvania settlers, to cluster in villages, as 
in New England, or string themselves in close proximity along 
the banks of rivers and streams of water, as did the French. 
They scattered themselves over the face of the country, and built 
their houses on hill, or in dale, or by some fountain gushing 
from rocks, or bubbling from the earth, as they fancied best 
suited their convenience. At the distance of five, six, and more 
miles from the stockade, the isolated familcs became liable to the 
hostile visits of predatory Indian bands. Hence, as my beloved 
and very venerated friend, and elder of this church, Mr. William 
Douglass, then a man of great age and piety, and justly honored 
for his many social virtues, informed me some forty years ago, the 
settlers' families often had to seek defense and shelter near the 
stockade in the town, while the men found it necessary to unite, 
and go in groups or companies, to help each other in clearing 
their ground, and, in seed-time and harvest, to put in and take 
down their crops. 

We have heard the honored men of olden-time discourse of 

*' The battle with the forest, and the stera 
Privation to be borne, where oft the call 
Of chill necessity aifrights the soul; 
Repeating tales their childhood frequent heard 
From sires, who 'mid these hills and valleys came, 
And with the guardian fire-arm at their side, 
Laid the loud axe unto the woodland foot." 

It was partly from such necessity that Carlisle had its origin, 
as well as from the first movement of the proprietaries to organ- 
ize a County, and provide for the efficient administration of civil 
government. The settlei's clustered in the vicinity of the Fort, 
and built their log dwellings in a place of safety, where they might 
leave their wives and children, while they, in bands, cleared and 
cultivated their lands. 

Those settlers were of the hardy race of Presbyterians, some 
from Scotland, but mostly from the North of Ireland, descend- 
ants of those, who, in the days of Cromwell, had rallied for the 
defense of their Protestant religion, against Popery and Prelacy, 
and had sought, by emigration from the North of England and 
the South of Scotlanfl ^o r^^T^T,r,.^]^■7■^ Tto1"-v^ l^'rom the Countie? 



11 

of York, Lancaster and Cumberland, in England, their ancestors 
had migrated to the North of Ireland, and thence many of their 
descendants had come, breathing the same spirit of freedom and 
desire for liberty of conscience, and cherishing the same resolute 
and ardent piety, which characterized their sires. 

This town of Carlisle, and the County of Cumberland — of 
which it is the seat of Justice — took their names from the places 
so-called in the North of England. The Carlisle near the border 
of Scotland; is the prototype of this. Like it, it is built of stone, 
with streets running at right angles from a square in the center. 
It is situated between two parallel ranges of lofty hills, inclosing 
the valley, watered by the Eden, Caldew, and Peterel rivers, or 
creeks, as we would call them. It was originally a Roman frontier 
town, near their confluence, and bore the name of Lugo vallum, 
which the Saxons contracted into LuEL, and attaching their own 
word Caer, which means town or city, manufactured that of Caer- 
Lu-el, whence was formed Carlisle, the seat of Justice of Cumber- 
land County, England. 

This County of Cumberland, in Pennsylvania, was organized 
in 1750, but seven years before the foundations of this church 
edifice were laid. The town of Carlisle was laid out the follow- 
ing year, 1751, and becoming the seat of Justice for an exten- 
sive County, members of the Presbyterian congregation, previously 
organized and worshipping on the banks of the Conodoguinet, who 
made the town the place of their residence, together with others 
arriving and settling in the town, made early arrangements for 
having a place of worship erected in it. The schism that had 
previously existed in the Presbyterian Church, and which divided 
it into the two separate and differing Synods of Philadelphia and 
New York, had led to the formation of new congregations by each 
party, and often rival to each other, in the same places. 

From the earliest settlement of Carlisle, these differences led 
to the formation of two separate congregations. What were called 
the New Side or New Lights, first occupied the town, and erected 
a temporary place of worship. It was a T^ooden building. South 
of the stockade, and near the center of Pomfret and Hanover 
streets. This circumstance, and the perils of the times, rendered 
the village a desirable place for the congregation on the banks of 
the Conodoguinet, to which, to transfer their place of worship. 



12 

The Court-house had afforded accommodations for worship prior 
to the erection of church-buildings, and its bell, v.-h'ie\\ announced 
the hours of worship, continued ever thereafter to render the 
same important services. That loud, cleai'-sounding bell, which, 
for close upon a century, had convoked the earl}' Presbyterians^ 
who settled in this place, to their meetings on the Sabbath, as I 
learned from the old inhabitants, some forty years since, was cast 
in the town of Carlisle, Cumberland County, England, and was 
said to have been a gift from the people of that town and County 
to its young name-sake in Kittochtinny Valley. As the legend 
ran, it owed its brilliant tone to the fact, that the subscription of 
the Penn family — the Proprietaries — toward it, was made on con- 
dition that the £30 they contributed, to be paid in pure silver, 
should be added to the other metals composing it, at the time of 
its being fluxed in the furnance for casting. 

For three generations did that sweet silver-toned old bell 
faithfully perform its sacred duties on the Sabbath, proclaiming 
the hour of worship, until it yielded to the fiery element that 
brought it into being. It was the charm of the old settlers, and 
to none more than to the early Presbyterians. It was music to 
our ears, and we sighed as though a friend had departed when — 
though at a distance — we heard its tragic story — that it had 
melted in burning grief, and buried itself in the ashes of its own 
funeral pile. 

The Presbyterian congregations in the Colonies of Pennsyl- 
vania, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina, although mainly 
composed of emigrants from the North of Ireland, included also, 
a few from England; still more, of the Hugenots from France 
and the borders of the Rhine, and a sprinkling of Congregation- 
alists from New England. Of different nations originally, of 
different languages and education, and differing somewhat in their 
religious opinions and customs, they nevertheless were remarkably 
agreed in all the substantial doctrines of the Evangelical faith. 
The Scotch-Irish sympathies, however, were predominant. 

The elements of EiTglish Independency, and of New England 
Congregationalism, which had been somewhat modified in Holland 
from its original Brownism, and assimilated to Presbyterianism 
there, before its shipment on board the Mayflower, and its trans- 
plantation on this Continent; the elements, also, of Scotch and 



13 

Irish Presbyterianism, and of French Hugenotism, but, more 
especially, of the Scotch-Irish of the North of Ireland, were 
blended in the (Colonies, and produced a new phase of Ecclesias- 
ticisui, difiering somewhat from the originals in the parent 
countries. By their fusion was developed an ecclesiastical organ- 
ization, better adapted than either of the distinctive varieties, aa 
they existed in the old countries, to the circumstances and con- 
dition of the new settleittents in the Colonies. 

The standard of doctrine was indeed the same ; but the terms 
of subscription were not so rigid and exacting as to prevent cor- 
dial correspondence and easy coalescence. ^Vhere Congregation- 
alists and Presbyterians found themselves in close vicinity, and 
mingled in the same settlement, they readily associated — as did 
also the French Hugenots — for the early and more eflectual sup- 
port of the preaching of the Gospel. Among the congregations 
on the borders of New England, South and West, as in 
New York and East Jersey, there was more of the Congregational 
element, or irresponsible democracy, than in Pennsylvania, Mary- 
land, and further South, where Presbyterianism established its 
representative system or republican rule. The Presbyterian con- 
gregations of Cumberland County, and of other interior Counties 
of Pennsylvania, were much more homogeneous. 

Those of Lancaster County had more of the Hugenots, especi- 
ally of Franco-German character, a large settlement of whom 
came from Strasburg, on the Khinc, and its vicinity, and settled 
in the townships and villages of Strasburg and Lampeter, in that 
County. Others, from the Palatinate, in Germany — whither, 
upon the revocation of the edict of Nantes, in 1085, by Louis XIV, 
many had fled from France, and whence, twenty years later, they 
migrated — settled in the south-eastern part of Leacock, and in 
Pequa townships, of the same County. The noi-thern and west- 
ern parts of Lancaster County — excepting Donegal, settled by 
Scotch-Irish — and the County of York generally, received a large 
proportion of German emigrants, who did not so readily amalga- 
mate with Presbyterians; but, preserving their own language, 
established their own peculiar and differing ecclesiastical organi- 
zations, answerable to those of their Eurojj^an States from which 
they came — Lutherans, Reformed, Mennonites, See. They jeal- 
ously and zealously endeavored to preserve both their native Ian- 



14 

guage and customs, and maintain separate ecclesiastical organi- 
izations, which shut them out from the sympathies and fellow- 
Bhip of Presbyterians, who spoke the language of the country, 
participated in the administration of the Government, and whose 
rchurches rapidly increased, comprising emigrants from England, 
Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France, and the l\ilatinate, both upper 
andjower, who had diffused themselves through parts of Bucks, 
(Chester, and Lancaster Counties. 

In this last-named County there were early troubles, between 
the German and the English population. They were of different 
races. Hence it became the policy of the Penn family, and the 
Proprietary Government, which, ultimately however, was only 
partially successful, to promote the settlement of Cumberland 
County, with emigrants from the North of Ireland, and the 
Counties of Lancaster and York, with Germans, in order to avoid 
the collision that had taken place by the mingling of these 
different races. 

The emigrants to Pennsylvania, in great numbers, landed at 
Newcastle, Delaware, and pnssed into Pennsylvania thence, by 
way of Wilmington, Newport, and Christiana, in Delaware, and 
found their way into the Counties of Chester, Lancaster, Dauphin, 
York, and Cumberland. The congregations formed in Newcastle, 
which gave its name to the Presbytery that comprised most of the 
Scotch-Irish emigrants; those in Wilmington, Christiana, and the 
northern parts of Newcastle County, in Delaware ; also those of 
the south-western part of Chester County, upper and lower Bran- 
dywine, upper Octorai'a, New London, Fagg's Manor, Chestnut 
Level, &c. ; those of lower Octorara, Pequa, Leacock, Lancaster, 
and Donegal, in Lancaster; of Paxton and Derry, in Dauphin; 
of the Barrens, York, and Monaghan, in York; and of Silver's 

/Spring, Carlisle, Big Spring, Middle Spring, in Cumberland 
County, were composed mainly of Presbyterians from the North of 

\ Ireland. 

They were organized upon regular Presbyterian principles, 
not so much of the established Presbyterian Church of Scotland 
as of the dissenting Presbyterian churches of the North of Ireland. 
The members of thosQ, churches were whole-hearted Protestants, 
who prized the privileges and blessings of religious liberty; and 
the Presbytery of Newcastle, to which most of them belonged, 



15 

rendered itself conspicuous for its attachment to republican prin- 
ciples, and opposition to everything like State domination in the 
Church, or Church domination in the State. 

These early emigrants loved their Bibles, and venerated di- 
vine institutions. God's word was their Supreme law ; His salva- 
tion, through Christ, their rejoicing; and the preaching of the 
Gospel more precious than any othier social arrangement. Fronx 
the earliest period, while their settlements yet were but rudely 
blocked out, and in the aboundings often of their poverty, they 
made arrangements to have the truth expounded by the living 
teacher, and thus possess the full benefit of instruction by an edu- 
cated and faithful ministry. They were not, and would not be, 
long satisfied with licentiate preachers and stated supplies, or "hired 
ministers," as they arc with flippant piquancy commercially 
termed among Congregationalists in New England, and by west- 
ern emigrants thence. They loved and honored the pastoral 
office as a divine appointment, as one of the ascension gifts of our 
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ; and the relationship of pastor 
and people, solemnly constituted by installation, they regarded 
and cherished, as nearly, if not fully, equal in sacredness to that 
of husband and wife. In their estimation, without the preaching 
of the Gospel, and especially by a settled pastor over a regularly 
organized congregation, the state of society was, and could not but 
be, imperfect and destitute of the vital elements essential to ita 
peace, prosperity, and progress. Both in temporal and religious^ 
matters, they felt the value of the pastor's opinion and advice, and^ 
they cordially sought, as children to a parent, or a wife to her hus- 
band, the benefit of his influence and sympathy, as their counsellor' 
and guide, their watchman and the shepherd of the flock. They 
would have him to pray with them at their bedsides in sickness y 
to mingle his sorrows with them in their griefs and afiliotions ; to- 
share in the joys of their happy moments; and to cooperate with 
them in the government and instruction of their youth. They 
would consult him in their domestic and temporal afiairs, have 
him make their wills for them, and not unfrequently assist, 
in the construction of them, and often preferred first to take his 
counsel in matters of litigation before application to attorneys. 
Many of their early pastors, eminent for their wisdom and piety, 
never removed from among them from their early days, but lived 



16 

and died lamented and honored, as a sort of beloved and vene- 
rated patriarchal parent. 

Next to the pastor, they valued the bench of Elders, the 
"helps" ordained of God to aid in exercising the over-sight of 
the flock, to whom often matters of diflFerence were submitted, as 
to friends and counsellors, as well as the responsibilities of disci- 
pline were entrusted. The school, too, was an object of their 
early care. Wherever they formed a settlement, they had no 
sooner reared their dwellings for their own families, than they 
organized congregations, and began to erect meeting-houses, as 
they called them, for the worship of God. Nor were they too 
proud, or ashamed, while they themselves dwelt in the log cabin, 
to build their log churches, not a few of which I remember, in 
my youthful days, to have seen yet standing, and in some have 
occasionally preached. It was also their early care, whenever 
practicable, to secure a farm for the vise of the pastor, which they 
called " the Glebe," and to provide equal comforts for him with 
their own. I have known some of the olden pastors — in my 
younger days — who took their places sometimes in the harvest- 
fields, and aided at "the raising" of their buildings, and thus 
prevented evil, and did much good. They were men that would 
both work and preach, and their discourses were not loose dis- 
jointed exhortations, but always replete with the grand funda- 
mental truths of the Gospel. 

In their congregational arrangements, several of which would 
sometimes form a pastoral charge, they acted not. without the 
counsel and cooperation of the pastors assembled in Presbytery. 
They sought not to interfere with separate interests, each congre- 
gation being regarded as an integral part of the One Presbyterian 
Church. The irresponsible Democrary of Brownism and Inde- 
pendency, they disrelished. The Presbytei-y were wont, there- 
fore, upon applications for the organization of new congregations, 
to appoint committees, who visited the field, explored it fully, and 
with compass and chain run the course and marked the distance 
of ten miles, as near as might be, from center to center, for the 
several places of worship, so that there might be no interle- 
rence and rival efforts made on the same ground, nor a new one 
organized to the serious injury of one already formed. Thus, 
until the unfortunate schism in the Presbyterian Church, in 1741, 



17 

each congregation had its own well-defined geographical "bounds," 
which, though not called parishes, were really such, within whoso 
limits the jurisdiction of the pastor, who was called IJishop, and 
of his Session, composed of l^llders or Presbyters, was appropriate 
and exclusively that of a parochial episcopate. 

The homogeneous character of these early Presbyterian con- 
gregations was never disturbed by any friction with New England 
Congregationalism, yet did the patriotic spirit of our sires, and 
the liberal piety of the descendants of the Presbyterian dissenters 
in the North of Ireland — diifering from the rigid formality of the 
established Church of Scotland — abundantly appreciate the moral 
worth and religious character of New England Congregationalists. 
For, at the commencement of our difficulties at Boston, two yeara 
before the declaration of Independence, when the valorous sons 
of Massachusetts began to resist the oppressive nicasures of the 
British Government, the freeholders and freemen of ('umberland 
County tendered their sympathies and material aid, pledging them- 
selves to espouse their cause, and to cooperate with them in the 
struggle for freedom. 

The Scotch-Irish Presbyterians had imbibed the spirit, and 
understood the power, of that famous instrument which contri- 
buted so much, in Scotland, for the Protestant Reformation and 
Religious Liberty, viz : " The Solemn League and Covenant." 
It was their attachment, as Protestants, to the cause of civil and 
religious liberty, that brought them to this Western world. At 
an early period in the history of British oppression, as practiced 
in these Colonies, the same patriotic and religious spirit was 
kindled in them. Nowhere was it more vigoi'ous, active and effi- 
cient than in Carlisle and Cumberland Count}^. 

When, in 1778, Gen. Gage, the Governor of Massachusetts — 
whose conduct Gen. Washington characterized as "more becom- 
ing a Turkish bashaw than an English Governor" — had begun to 
spread the fear that "Boston was to be blockaded and reduced to 
obedience, by force or famine," the spirit of patriotic resistance 
startled the scribbling Governor preparing to enact the lion, by 
the ominous sound of that famous old instrument of heroic faith 
and patriotism in Scotland, uttered by the Committee of Corres- 
pondence. At the suggestion of the Assemby in that city, there 
was circulated a paper entitled "A Solemn League and Covenant," 
B 1 



18 

in which the subscribers pledtied themselves to break off all in- 
tercourse with Great Britian, from the 1st of August, 1773, till 
the Colony should be restored to its chartered rights, as well as 
to renounce all dealings with those who should refuse to enter 
into this compact. They could not have used words more appro- 
priate or effectual to kindle the patriot fire in the breast of every 
Presbyterian. The movement was electric. 

The Scotch-Irish emigrants, who had crossed the ocean for a 
wilderness, were not the fitting subjects for passive obedience; 
nor were they willing to renounce civil rights and religious 
liberties to the exactions of King or Parliament. The freemen 
of Cumberland Count}^ knew, too, by bitter experience, the ne- 
cessity of taking care of themselves, when but feebly aided by the 
Provincial Government. The brilliant achievement at Kittan- 
ning gave proof of their fortitude and prowess. 

Col. John Armstrong, who, with Dr. (afterward Capt.) Hugh 
Mercer, a Scotchman, and both men of Cumberland Valley, 
foi'med the soul of that enterprise, was of Scotch-Irish extraction. 
He was a man "resolute" and brave." Living habitually in the 
fear of the Lord, he feared not the fece of man. His influence 
among the men of that class was most efficient. His intelligence, 
his integrity, and deservedly high repiutation for morality and re- 
ligion, commanded general confidence and respect, and contrib- 
uted much to rally and restrain the hopes and. energies of the 
settlers, during the period that followed the first bloody outbreak 
of the Delaware Indians, which scattered dismay among them, 
left — as they were for nine years after Braddock's defeat — in a 
great measure to their own defenses and resourcs. 

The Pvev. John Steele, a member of the Presbytery of Done- 
gal, and sup2)lying, at the time, the Old Side people at Shrews- 
bury and York, was selected, by the first volunteer company or- 
ganized on West Conocoeheague, for its Captain. Accepting the 
post, he executed his command with so much skill and' bravery, 
that the Provincial Government appointed him a Captain of their 
troops. This appointment he retained for many years; after 
that, he was pastor of the Presbyterian church on the Conodogui- 
net, and rendered important service, to the benefit of the settlers, 
and the satisfaction of the Government. He was reputed as a 
sound divine, a man of piety and learning. JNor did he relinquish 



19 

the ministry, for a military post and profession. He often 
preached with his gun by his side, addressing a congregation, the 
men of which ali^o had tlieir weapons within tlieir reach. He 
was not, in this respect, singular ; uor was his congregation. The 
perils of the times rendered sucli a defensive attitude, even in tte 
worship of God, necessary to meet the sudden surprisal of Indian 
warfare. («) The state of the country, and of the times, were such 
as to develop, at an early period, the daring spirit of freedom, and 
the manly reliance on God and their own defenses, that marked 
the Scotch-Irish settlers of the Kittochtinny Valley. The Divine 
Providence prepared them for freedom and independence. 

After Braddock's defeat, the whole interior of Pennsylvania 
was left defenseless. The flight of " Col. Dunbar, the tardy," 
as he was called, who commanded the retreat, cast dismay among 
the scattered emigrants. The horrors of a savage war, the intrigues 
of the French, and the dread of Jesuitical and Papal influences, 
excited terrifying apprehensions of danger along the entire frontier. 
Supplications for his aid, and for that of the Proprietary Govern- 
ment, proved unavailing. The inhabitants of Carlisle, and the 
people of Cumberland County, were forced to depend upon them- 
selves. The war that followed was of the most frightful character. 
Families were surprised in their dwellings, and every member 
scalped and murdered, without any to relate the dreadful scene. 
Houses and barns were burned, and cattle and crops destroyed. 
Sufi'ering privations of the severest kind, and afflicted with the 
small-pox and dysentery, numbers fled in terror into the Counties 
of York and Lancaster. . For seven years this Indian war pre- 
vailed, during most of which the inhabitants of Cumberland Val- 
ley were left with little or no other defense against their savage 
enemies, than what their own resources and bravery could supply. 

Afterward, when the population that had fled began to return, 
the Eev. William Thompson in 1765, then at Carlisle, I'eported 
that 750 familes, in difi"erent places, had abandoned their planta- 
tions, having lost their stock, their crops, their furniture, their 
all.(^) Two hundred families from Fort Pitt were dispersed 
among the suft'erers in Cumberland. Disease and want had made 
such ravages as to require the extension of aid which the people 

(a) See Appendix marked E. (6) See Appendix marked F. 



20 

of Philarlelphia generously forwarded, in contributions taken up 
in Christ and St. Peter's churches. 

Nor were these cahxniitios the only demands made upon the 
fortitude and valor of the freemen of Cumberland. There were 
Others, toward their close, that contributed to develop, still more 
fully and nobly, the character and spirit of these sturdy Scotch- 
Irish Presbyterians. The spirit of cupidity, on the part of cer- 
tain Indian traders — who sought, in violation of law, and in utter 
and reckless contempt for the safety of the white inhabitants, to 
supply the savages with arms and ammunition — provoked, in 
1765, proceedings of a riotous character, which involved them in 
conflict with the Provincial authorities. A large quantity of 
goods had been brought in wagons from Philadelphia, to be 
carried on pack-horses, by the traders, to places of Indian trade. 
Where Mercersburg, in Franklin County, is now situated, a party 
assembled to remonstrate with the traders, and pi-event their 
giving aid and ammunition to their treacherous foes. Mr. J. 
DufBeld, of the vicinity, "a man respected and prominent in the 
County, and a brother of the Kev. George Duffield, then pastor 
of one of the churches in Carlisle, undertook, on behalf of the 
assembled citizens, some fifty in number, to urge those having 
charge of the horses and goods, to proceed no further, but deposit 
the goods until orders should be received concerning them. 

The demand was disregarded ; tlie traders passed on their 
way. The assembled party pursued them, over the Tuscarora 
mountain in the Great Cove, where Mr. Duffield renewed the 
demand and his remonstrances. " He reasoned with them on the 
impropriety of their proceedings, and the great danger the frontier 
inhabitants would be exposed to, if the Indians should now get a 
supply, as it was known they had scarcely any ammunition." ^ His 
object was to prevent the distribution of rum and tomahawks, of 
gunpowder and arms. He said, that the trade, which was illegal, 
would be at the expense of the blood and safety of the inhabi- 
tants ; and that the traders would, in part, be the aiders and abettors 
of murder. It was all in vain. The traders ridiculed his re- 
monstrance; and the citizens, under his advice and leading, re- 
turned to their homes, without any other attempt to restrain the 
trading party. 

1 Tribute to the Principles, &c. 



21 

Subsequently, Lieut. James Smith, in command of a corn 
pany of Volunteer liangers, employed for the defense of that 
position — a man of indomitable courage and inflexible will — with 
ten of his companions, pursued the traders, and, liaving killed 
three horses, seized their goods, and destroyed the lead, toma- 
hawks, scalping-knives, and gunpowder, which they had stored. 
Lieut. Grant, a royal oflScer of the Highland soldiers, on com- 
plaint of the traders, assigned them a military guard, who assisted 
in arresting — without 6ath or warrant, or any civil process from 
a magistrate' — a number of the citizens of the neighborhood, in 
no wise connected with the attack, and who were brought to Fort 
Loudon, and there confined. Smith, with 300 riflemen, demanded 
and procured the release of the prisoners. Grant was subsequently 
seized by some of the disaflfected citizens, upon his going into 
the country, but released upon his promise of delivering their 
guns, which he had retained in the Fort; and it was done. 

The inhabitants assembled to redress the arbitrary proceed- 
ings of the soldiers. The result was, the arrest of Smith and his 
friends; but the criminal proceedings against them were with- 
drawn, through the pressure of public sentiment. 

Some three years after, a German and his servant, confined 
in jail on the charge of having murdered ten Indians in Shear- 
man's Valley, was removed to Philadelphia, for trial before the 
Chief Justice of the Province. Although public sentiment con- 
demned the murderer, yet it was objected that he should not be 
removed from the County of Cumberland. The prisoner was 
rescued by his friends. Col. Armstrong and the Rev. Capt. 
Steele pursued the rioters; but failing to secure the prisoner, the 
magistrates were reproved by the Colonial Government. It was 
not sympathy for the murderer that led to resistance, but opposi- 
tion to what was judged to be their illegal removal. 

The men that pursued the rioters, were of Irish extraction, 
and belonged to the Presbyterian church of Carlisle — Col. (also 
Justice) Armstrong, R. Miller,. William Lyon, Eev. Mr. Steele, 
and others. Law and order were restored; and the inhabitants 
who had fled, returning — after the treaty with the Indians, and 
the success of the defense made by those that had remained — 
applied themselves, with new industry, to the cultivation of their 
farms, and to the repairing of the losses and ravages they had 



22 

sustained. They rebuilt their dwellings, replenished their stock 
and furniture, prepared their soil for fresh crops, restored their 
schools, gathered in their congregations again for the worship of 
God, and again called and installed pastors over the churches 
which had been vacated by the Indian wars, and disturbances of 
the country. The names of Drs. Cooper, King, and Duffield, are 
associated with this period — men eminent for learning, piety, 
eloquence, and usefulness in the Presbyterian church.^ 

I'rovidence had early disciplined our sires into a manly hero- 
ism, aud prepared them for a still more trying contest with the 
Colonial authorities, and with the parent country, who had neg- 
lected them in their suflerings, and were aggravating the public 
grievances by their oppression. The constitutional and chartered 
rights of American freemen were well understood ; and the spirit 
of religious liberty, sustained by an enlightened conscience, would 
never brook the attempt made to hold them in servile or abject 
subjection to despotic aiithority, either in Church or State. Their 
open Bible had taught them their personal responsibilities to 
God ; and, in so doing, had enlightened them as to the rights of 
conscience, and the nature and value of civil and ecclesiastical 
liberty. 

From the very first collision that took place in the Colony, 
between the Royal Government and the citizens, their supreme 
respect for God and conscience, under the illumination of the 
Sacred Scriptures, enabled them justly to determine how far the 
King and his Parliament had a right to exercise an absolute des- 
potic sway. Their sympathies kindled into a flame upon hearing 
of the Turkish barbarity and oppressive policy of the British 
Governor of Massachusetts. None evinced more efficient feeling 
for the oppressed in New England, or greater indignation against 
the tyranny of the Royal Government, than the Scotch-Irish citi- 
zens of Carlisle and Cumberland County, and their descendants. 

Their Presbyterian brethren and kindred, who had settled in 
North Carolina, were of Scotch-Irish nativity, and had like sym- 
pathies with them. On the 20th of May, 1775, as the Raleigh 
Register of the time, in its account of their bold and patriotic re- 
solves, says of the delegates of the Mecklenburg Convention : 

1 Tribute to tlie Principles, &c. 



23 

" After sitting in the Court-house all night, neither sleepy, hun- 
gry, nor fatigued, and after discussing every paragraph, they 
were all passed, sanctioned and decreed, unanimously, about two 
o'clock, A. M." This memorable declaration of Indepcndenee(«)— 
which contains many of the ideas, and some of the very phrases 
and forms of expression afterwards adopted by Mr. Jeffersou; and 
incorporated in his draft of that great national document whose 
adoption, on the 4th of July, 1776, by the Provincial Congress, 
broke the shackles of despotism, and, casting them forever off, 
started these free and independent States on their high career of 
freedom and renown— was the movement of Scotch-Irish Pres- 
byterians. 

The spirit of Carlisle and Cumberland County was in unison 
with that of the Mecklenburg Presbyterians. It had been roused 
from the very first collisions with the tyrannical authority of Great 
Britain ; and— although the inhabitants had suffered from want 
and savage war, from pestilence in double form, and from the de- 
vastation, to a great extent, of their fiwms^ and the flight and 
dispersion of their women and children— yet were they among 
the first to tender their sympathy and proffer substantial aid to 
their New England brethren, entangled in the conflict with 
Eoyal authority, when its wrath was poured out upon the Colony 
of Massachusetts, and the port of Boston was closed. 

At a meeting of the freeholders and freemen of Carlisle and 
Cumberland County, held at Carhsle on the 12th of July, 1774, 
(John Montgomery, Esq., of Irish nativity, in the chair) resolu- 
tions were adopted in condemnation of the Act of Parliament 
closing the port of Boston, and recommending vigorous measures 
to redress the grievances. They urged a general Congress of 
deputies from all the Colonies, and the non-importation of British 
merchandize; and they pledged substantial contributions for the 
relief of their suffering brethren in Boston. They appointed, 
also, deputies to meet, immediately, others from other Counties of 
Pennsylvania, in the city of Philadelphia. James Wilson, of 
Scotch nativity, a signer of the declaration of American Inde- 
pendence, and afterward a Judge of the Supreme Court of the 
United States, William Ir^ne, and Robert Magaw, both of Irish 

(a) See Appendix marked G. 



24 

origin, the former afterward a General, and the latter a Colonel 
in the llcvolutionary army from Pennsylvania, were these 
deputies. 

The free blood shed by British soldiery, at Lexington. April 19, 
1775, roused the spirit of the country.((7) The cry of war was no 
sooner sounded than the freemen of Cumberland, though distant 
from the theater of battle; rallied by thousands and offered their 
services in military associations and organizations. A letter from 
Carlisle, dated May, Gth, 1775, and preserved in the American 
Archives, says : " Yesterday the County committee met from 
nineteen Townships, on the short notice they had. Above three 
thousand men have already associated. The arms returned 
amounted to about fifteen hundred. Tlio Committee have voted 
five hundred effective men, besides commissioned oflBccrs, to be 
immediately drafted, taken into pay, armed, and disciplined, to 
march on the first eaiergency, to he paid coid supported as long 
as necessari/, hjj a tax on all estates reed and. personal in the 
Count ij." 1 

This was not vapor, for in June following, a company under 
the command of Capt. James Chauibers, marched and joined the 
army in Boston, under Gen, Washington, of which, in a short 
time, he became a Colonel, and continued till the close of the revo- 
lution. These freemen of Cumberland, were the men for the 
times — hardy and efficient, heads of families, and substantial and 
respectable freeholders, who had an interest in the soil and the 
country. They had been familiar Avith arms, inured to exposure 
and fatigue; and, being of stout athletic frame, formed soldiers 
who could march without tents or bagg;igo wagons, carry their 
equipments in their knapsacks, and with a blanket for their cover- 
ing, make the bare earth their bed, and the open air their 
apartment.'- 

The spirit that actuated them may be understood from the 
assurance they gave, to increase the force, if necessary, to fifteen 
hundred or two thousand, and at a debt, voluntarily drawn upon 
the County, of about twenty-seven thousand pounds per annum. 
In a memorial from the freemen of Cumberland County, pre- 



(a) See Appendix marked H. (1) Am. Ar., vol. 2, p. 51G. 

2. Tribute to the Principles, &c. 



sented to the Provincial Assembly of Pennsylvania, they remon- 
strated against the instructions uiven by that body to "the Penn- 
sylvania delegates in Continental Congress," in which they were 
among the first to give public expression to the sentiment that 
the separation of the Colonies from Great Britain was essential to 
their safety and welfare. In those instructions, the Assembly 
had " strictly enjoined the delegates that (they) in behalf of this 
Colony, dissent from and utterl}^ reject any propositions, should 
such be made, that may cause or lead to a separation from our 
mother country, or a change of the form of this Government." ^ 
The memorialists prayed that this injunction might be withdrawn, 
and set forth their reasons for it in a calm, patriotic, and able ex- 
position of their views. The memorial was presented on the 2Sth 
of May, 1776, and on the 5th of June was referred, by a large 
majority, to a committee, to bring in neiv instructions to the dele- 
gates. This was done nine days after, and the injunction and re- 
strictions remonstrated against were removed. The memorial 
appears to have expressed the unanimous sentiment of the free- 
men of Cumberland county. It had its influence on the Assem- 
bly and its delegates in Congress, and occupied a very prominent 
and important place, in the measures inducing and determining 
Congress in their declaration of American Independence. 

That noble document bears the signatures of not a few patri- 
otic Presbyterians of Scotch-Irish nativity or extraction. It 
breathed the spirit of freedom, that animated and characterized 
the ministry of the Presbyterian Church, most of whom were of 
the same origin. The Rev. Dr. John Witherspoon, President of 
Nassau Hall — a Scotchman by birth, and distinguished as a 
leader in the Presbyterian Church, alike eminent for his talents 
and learning, his patriotism and eloquence, his piety and devo- 
tion to the cause of liberty — was a member of the Continental 
Congress when the Declaration of Independence was reported 
and laid before that body for their adoption and signature. "Some," 
says the history of the transaction, " seemed to waver. Deep and 
solemn silence pervaded the Hall. It was a moment of intense 
and thrilling interest. The destiny of a great nation, of a new 
world, was suspended on the decision of that hour, fraught with 
infinite importance."' 



1 Am. Ar., vol. 3, p. 1408. 
B 



26 

This venerable man, vising in Lis place and castinp: a look of 
inexpressible and invincible interest around the Assembly, re- 
marked : " That noble instrument on your table, which insures 
immortality to its author, should be subscribed, this very mornins^, 
by every pen in the house. He who will not respond to its ac- 
cents, and strain every nerve to carry into effect its provisions, is 
unworthy the name of freeman. Although these grey hairs must 
descend into the sepulchre, I would infinitely rather they should 
descend thither by tlic hand of the public executioner, than de- 
sert, at this crisis, the sacred cause of my country." The patri- 
arch sat down, and forthwith the Declaration was signed by every 
mendier present. 

That Declaration made, the freemen of Cumberland thronged 
to the struggle. ]^y the IGtli of August following, it was an- 
nounced in Congress, by a letter from Carlisle : " The twelfth, 
company of our militia are marched to-day, which companies con- 
tain, in the whole, eigbt hundred and thirty-three privates, with 
officers — nearly nine hundred men. Six companies more are col- 
lecting arms, and are preparing to march." The company in the 
lead was under the command of the Rev. Capt. John Steele, the 
pastor of the Presbyterian churcb in this place comprising the 
" old side" people. 

The Rev. Geoi'ge Dufficld, who had been, till some years pre- 
viously, the pastor of the other branch of this church, comprising 
the " new side" people, was at this time settled in the Third 
Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia, and one of the Chaplains of 
Congress. His voice had been heard clear and strong, with his 
characteristic eloquence and ingenuity, advocating from his pul- 
pit the sacred cause of religious and civil liberty. As early as 
the 19th of March, 1776, nearly four months before the declara- 
tion of the American Congress, he publicly espoused the cause of 
freedom, and in the clearest and most courageous tones, uttered his 
loud call to liberty and independence. While yet the hearts of not 
a few in Congress faltered, and some of the Pennsylvania delega- 
tion especially, under the influence of the Assembly's first in- 
structions, hesitated to declare for independence, in his own 
church — where John Adams and many of the influential members 
of Congress often worshipped — he expressed himself in the fol- 
lowing language : 



" This Western world appears to have been formed for 
that purpose, designed by the decree of Heaven to be an 
asylum for Itberti/, civil and i-rlirjious:. Our forefathers who 
first inhabited yonder eastern shores, fled from the iron rod and 
heavy hand of oppression ' Twas (his, and no love of earthly 
gains, or prospect of tem))oral grandeur, urged them, like Abra- 
ham of old, to leave their native soil and tender connections 
behind, to struggle through winds and waves, to seek a peaceful 
retreat in a then howluig wilderness, where they might raise the 
banner of liberty, and dwell contented under its propitious shade, 
esteeming this more than all the treasures of a British Egypt, 
from whence they were driven forth. 

"Nor was it i\\G foster iiuj care of Britain produced the rapid 
population of these Colonies, but the ti/ranuy and oppression,, 
both civil and ecclesiastical, of thai and other nations, constrained 
multitudes to resign every other earthly comfort, and leave their 
country and friends, to enjoy in peace the fair possessions of /"rce- 
dom,'m this AVestern world. 'Tis this has reared our cities, 
and turned the wilderness, so far and wide, into a fruitful field. 
America's sons, comparatively few excepted, were all refuriecs, 
the chosen spirits of various nations, that would not, like Issachar, 
bow down between the two burdens of the accursed cruelty of 
tyranny in Church and. Slate. And can it be supposed, that 
the Loi-d has so far forgotten to be gracious, and shut up His 
tender mercies in His wrath, and so favored the arms of oppres- 
sion as to deliver up their asylum to slavery and bondage ? Can 
it bo supposed, that that God who made man free, and engraved 
in undcfacecd)le characters the love of liberty in his mind, should 
forbid freedom, already exiled from Asia and Africa, and under 
sentence of banishment from Europe — that He should forbid her 
to erect her banners here, and constrain her to abandon the earth? 
As soon shall He subvert ci'cation, and forbid that sun to shine! 
He preserved to the Jews their cities of refuge; and whilst sun 
and moon endure, America shall remain, a City of lief ui/c far 
the ichole earth, until she herself shall play the tyrant, forget her 
destiny, disgrace her freedom, and provoke her God. When that 
day shall come — if ever — then, and not till then, shall site aho fall 
slain with them tcho go down to the jjit!" 

The discourse from which the above extract is taken was dc- 



28 

livered before various coinpauies of the Pennsylvania militia, and 
many members of Congress, and its object was to rouse the spirit 
of freedom in the breasts of all. With lofty and impassioned 
eloquence, reasons many and mighty are urged, why the spirit of 
patriotism and piety should throw oft" the shackles of oppression, 
and America become free and independent. The preacher was 
appointed Chaplain to the Pennsylvania militia by Gov. Morton, 
and his comtiiission was dated on the fourth day after the declara- 
tion of Independence. So great was his influence, so zealous was 
his patriotism, and so obnoxious did he become to the British 
Government, that during the early period of the Revolutionary 
struggle, a price of fifty pounds sterling was offered for his head. 
But God preserved him, and both in the ami}'' and among the 
members of Congress his influence was felt. 

It was a circumstance worthy of notice, that however the 
pastors of the two churches in Carlisle afterward united, and how- 
ever their people may have differed in matters connected with 
their ecclesiastical polity, they had but one heart and purpose in 
the contest for political liberty, and the emancipation of the 
Church from the thraldom of the State. It merits attention, also, 
that the history of this Presbyterian church, and of its early 
pastors, mingles itself closely with that of our Picvolutionary 
struggle. We have therefore felt, that we could not well avoid a 
reference to the political troubles of the times, in our attempt to 
give its general outline. 

The genius of the Presbyterian Church in these United States 
is eminently republican. Its tendencies and influence in the 
State, were of the same character. There were no Tories in it. 
Wherever the Scotch- Irish population was found — which formed 
its original frame-work — the spirit of Pepublicanism developed 
itself. In Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and the Carolinas, 
the zealous cooperation of Presbyterians, for the emancipation of 
the Colonies from British tyranny in Church and State, was seen 
in their prompt and voluntary enrollment of themselves in the 
Revolutionary armies, and in their self-sacrificing and untiring 
eft'orts for independence. 

There had been contests iu the Presbyterian Church; but 
they were healed prior to the Revolution. However they differed 
among themselves on questions of ecclesiastical polity, those difle- 



29 

rences arose not from any disagreement as to the great and funda- 
mental principles of civil and religious liberty. A glance at the 
character of those differences becomes necessary in order to a 
faithful sketch of the history of the Presbyterian church of this 
place, where, perhaps, they were more operative and apparent 
than in most others. 

While the great substantial doctrines of the Gospel, and the 
radical principles of Presbyterian government, were embraced 
with equal cordiality, and adhered to with equal attachment by 
all, there wore, nevertheless, differences of opinion and feeling, 
in different parts of the country, which had mainly grown out of 
the great and powerful revivals of religion, that had prevailed in 
the former part of the last century, in New iMigland, New Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, and Virginia, and also in relation to the measures 
and discipline deemed appropriate for the promotion of piety. 

These differences had resulted, finally in 1741, in the dismem- 
berment of the Presbyterian Church. The Synod of New York 
and Philadelphia had been rent in twain. Toward the close of 
seventeen years thereafter, they had abated. The reunion was 
consummated just one year after laying the foundation of this 
edifice, in which we are now assembled. The revivals of religion 
that had occvirred under the preaching of Whitfield, Tenant, and 
others, in the first instance, reappeared under the preaching of 
Pavies, Edwards, Smith, Blair, the younger Tenants, and students 
of the Log College, which had been established by their father 
at Neshaminy in this State. 

An ardent and animating Christianity was taught there, and 
also in the preparatory schools of Dr. Smith, of Pequea ; of Samuel 
Blair, of Fagg's Manor; of Mr. Finley, of Nottingham; and in 
the College of Nassau Hall, just instituted at Newark, N. J. 
The Kev. Aaron Burr wrote to Edwards in February, 1757, of a 
revival of religion at Fagg's Manor, under Mr. Duffield; and 
Davies, in June, 1757, tells his Scottish friends, that he "had 
heard iVom 3Ir. Dufiiekl, a young minister, that there was a irene- 
ral awakening, throughout the Jerseys, among the youtli." Mr, 
Duffield, who had been a tutor in Nassau Hall from 1754 to 1756, 
after laboring in Fagg's Manor, went to the South as an Evangel- 
ist to visit vacant churches, and after his return supplied at York, 
Shrewsbury, and Round Hill, v.-hence he was called to Carlisle 



30 

and IJii;- Spring, wliecc lie 'Was installed by the Tresbytery of 
Newcastle. 

Directly after Mr DuflielJ was called to (^arlisle and Big 
Spring, the " old side" ])eople of Carlisle and Silvers' Spring 
called the Kev. John Steele, and the Presbytery of Donegal forth- 
with installed hiui. He had previonsly supplied the congrega- 
tion worshipping in the log church on the Conodogninet, known 
in hiter days by the name of the " Electing House Springs." ]Joth 
Mr. Dufficld and iMr. Steele were installed in Carlisle within three 
months of each other, and each preached two-thirds of the time 
in the town. The Synod recommended the congregations to fall 
upon healing measures, and lay a plan for the erection of one 
house only. But the uiiKcultics were not thus adjusted. 

The contests lietween the churches and their pastors became 
serious. Objections were uuule by Mr. Buflield against Mr. 
Steele's elder sitting in the Presbytery of Newcastle; and 3Ir. 
Steele complained of a letter written by Mr. Duffield to his uncle, 
(the Rev. .John Blair) speaking of Mr. Steele having in an uiuUjr- 
hand way settled in Carlisle. The matters were carried to Synod, 
and the j^roduction of the letter set the matter in a dilfd'ent light 
i'rom the representations made about it, and there the matter ended. 

In April, 1702, iMr. Duffield was called to the Second Pres- 
byterian (;hurcli of Philadeli>hia, which the Presbytery? of Done- 
gal refused to put into his liaiuls, because of the remonstrances of 
his people. It was renewed some time after, and I'cceived the 
same treatment. In 1705, he was sent by the Synod to the Car- 
olinas, au<l in 17iJ(), with the Rev. 'Mv. Beatty, to the Indians, on 
the Muskingum, his congregation consenting to his temporary 
absence. 

He continued for ten years pastor of the two churches of Car- 
lisle and Biu' Si)ring, when, by the advice of Presbyter}', he gave 
up the latter, and was installed at Monaghan for one-third of his 
time. He continued pastor of this charge till 1771, when he was 
called to the Third (or IMiie street) Presbyterian Church in the city 
of Philadelphia, to which hv was subsequently translated. 3Ir. 
Steele having died, and both his and Mr. Duffield's congregations 
in Carlisle being vacant, the way was prepared, after the confu- 
sion and embarrassment incident to the war of the Revolutionj 
for their reunion. 



31 

The vent and controversies in the Presbyterian Church, during 
the latter part of the first half of the last century, were the grief 
of many, who preferred the catholic spirit of the Gospel to the 
sectarianism of national churches, and ecclesiastical propagandism, 
unhappily, of late, revived in our country. The Synod of New 
York, at an early period after the division in 1741, made over- 
tures to that of Philadelphia for a reunion. Among the very few 
papers that have come into my hands, belonging to my grand- 
father — who died about five years before I was born — is one in 
his handwriting, being a copy of an extract from the minutes of 
the Synod of New York, dated May 17 and IS, A. D. 1749. He 
was then a youth of seventeen years of age, and seems to have 
copied it for preservation. It contains certain preliminary articles, 
looking toward I'eunion, which was not consummated, however, 
till nine years afterward. (a) 

The Christian principle and spirit expressed in this overture, 
in due season prevailed, and the two Synods again coalesced. The 
congregation of Carlisle, merging its two constituent parts into 
one, a quarter of a century later, formed one of the noble monu- 
ments recording the success of that wisdom and piety, which — 
having projected, upon Christinn principles, the plan of reiuiion — 
was willing to await the movements of Providence, for its con- 
summation in detail. 

The removal, as has been said, of the pastor of one part of 
this congregation to I'hiladelphia ; the death of that of the other; 
the bitter experience of the calamities of the war, first with the 
Indians and afterward of the American Revolution; the unfin- 
ished condition of this building; the destruction of the other 
place of worship by fire; and the general acceptableness of the 
Rev. Robert Davidson to both parties, prepared a way for the 
fusion, of what had once been rival and antagonistic churches, 
into one congregation. 

For nearly thirty years, from 1785 to 1812, under Dr. Robert 
Davidson's pastoral care, aided toward the close of that pei'iod by 
the Rev. Charles Nesbit, D. D., LL. D., President of Dickinson 
College, the church enjoyed her communion seasons uninter- 
rupted ; and an entire generation grew up, to strengthen and 
cement the reunion tliat had been so happily formed. 

(f) See Appendix ui,irked I. 



32 

This period of peace was followed by an interregnum of tribu- 
lation and contention; parties revived, whose conflicts became 
known to the highest judicatory of the Church. It was toward 
the close of this period of alienation and strife, in 1815, that my 
youthful feet were directed by the Providence of God, in a tran- 
sient visit among you, while pursuing a journey further west on 
business for my father. 'i'hnt Providence, to my surprise, made 
the strippling just cntcriug legnl manhood, the means of uniting 
in harmonious feeling and action, parties that had been long 
severely discordant. 

I came among you with much fear and trembling, and in 
great weakness, but God disposed the hearts of all to "follow 
after the things that make for peace, wherewith one may edify 
another." Tales of bitterness against the Presbytery and promi- 
nent individuals of it, and of the different parties, and reproaches 
on both sides, were privately lodged in my ears. God gave 
wisdom to bury them there. Vv^ithont repeating or divulging 
them to any — and only making them the occasion for Christian 
counsel, and exhortation to cherish the spirt of friendship, for- 
bearance, and love — it v/as not long till other and better themes 
became the topics of conversation when we met. 

None ever learned what hard things another had said of him, 
and it proved, in a very few years, the joy of my heart, to see 
those once alienated again on terms of friendly and endeared 
Christian fellowship. Prejudices, and usages long cherished and 
consecrated by the example of those of higher name and greater 
years, were sometimes disturbed, and imitated, by the plan and 
policy, we felt bound, in fiithfulness to Jesus Christ and to our 
charge, to adopt, for the administration of the ordinances of wor- 
ship, and discipline, and with respect to the qualifications for admis- 
sion to tlie sacraments. Occasional manifestations of dissatisfac- 
tion were made, on the part of individuals, but unity of sentiment 
and cordial cooperation in the Session, greatly strengthened us. 
There v/as but one conviction and purpose, on their part, in com- 
mon with our own, as to what the word of God, and the honor of 
Jesus Christ sanctioned and required. The sober better judg- 
ment of the disaffected — when the excitement had subsided, and 
a more careful investigation of the subject had been made in the 
light of the Scriptures — failed not to yield to the evidences of 



33 

right and truth, submitted in the public preaching and personal 
conversation. 

The truth commended itself to the consciences of many. God 
blessed the public preaching of it, and the private instruction in 
the Bible and catechetical classes. The first Sunday School was 
organized in the summer of 1816. It was intended for those 
whose religious education was neglected at home, and not as a 
substitute for parental and family care and responsibility in this 
matter. The Bible class was chiefly for the females, and the 
weekly catechetical classes and exercises were for all the youth 
of the congregation, whose parents would cooperate with the 
pastor. That cooperation was general and cordial. The results 
soon began to irritate the wicked and unbelieving, and they were 
not backward in expressing their sentiments. 

The open-mouthed and billingsgate ribaldry, and the reproach- 
ful hostility of those who rejected the Gospel of the grace of God, 
and which, for years, were unintermittent and abundant only served 
to strengthen the cord of attachment that united pastor and 
people. With very few exceptions, had we occasion to say, 
that the members of the Church strengthened the hands of the 
wicked. The developments of Providence were often of a 
character distinctly marked, and lessons of wisdom and piety 
were taught by them, which have been of value to us all the way 
through life. 

The spirit of God was frequently poured out in plenteous 
effusions. Old and young were inquiring, " What shall we do 
to be saved l'\<i) The father of 70 years of age, and the child of 
17 and 18, together came out from the world, and embraced the 
covenant of our God. It was my happiness to be the means of 
leading to Christ and His table, many of the children I had bap- 
tized. Not a few of the beloved youth consecrated themselves to 
God and His service, in the ministry of reconciliation; and now, 
after the lapse of twenty-two years, in the joy of my heart, and 
with devout thankfulness to God, I bless Him not only for what 
He has wrought among you, but in being permitted, on this 
hallowed occasion, to meet, and in this time-honored place, greet 
so many of the soldiers of the Cross and ambassadors for Christ, 

(a) See Appendix for number of admissions. 



from different and distant fields of labor, whose annour has 
not rusted, but bright, polished, and lustrous, by successful use, 
shines brilliant in the glory of the great Captain of salvation. 

The revivals of religion that prevailed so extensively through- 
out the United States, from 1880 to 1835 — like those of the 
former century, in the days of Whitfield, the Tenants, <fcc. — were 
connected with some tilings, which, as in that day, excited the 
fears and prejudices of those who questioned whether the evils 
incident to them might not be greater than the good secured by 
them. The spirit of jealousy and distrust in reference to doc- 
trinal belief and religious profession — which these revivals had 
been the occasion for developing — as in the preceding century — 
diffused itself extensively in parts of the Presbyterian Church, 
The old contentions that had agitated and divided the Church 
a century before, revived in full vigor ; and Satan — taking ad- 
vantage of the strifes and jealousies, among those who had lived 
in amity, and had cordially cooperated for the salvation of men — 
engendered suspicions, promoted alienations, invigorated preju- 
dices, and, eventually, as before and very much for the same 
ends, and by the same methods, rent in twain the ecclesiastical 
body which had exerted as one united, liberal-minded, enlight- 
ened and patriotic Christian denomination, such an important and 
salutary influence upon the public mind, and contributed, so effect- 
ually, for nearly a century, to the welfare of the country, and the 
progress of its civilization. 

The fissures that foretokened the coming convulsion, eai'ly 
marked the lines of discussion. Their rise and progress in the 
Presbyterian Church, had frustrated the plans and hopes of use- 
fulness, that had stimulated us to zealous and persevering labor for 
many years. The record of these scenes is on high; and the 
eclaircissments of the great day will unfold what foreign in- 
fluences were brought to bear to injure our usefulness and peace, 
but can never be committed to the pages of history. Sufiice it 
to say, that for your sake as a congregation, and for the general 
good, as we thought, we preferred to change our field of labor, 
which the providence of God seemed to direct. We were not 
ignorant of the agencies employed, but endeavored calmly and 
patiently to put the best construction upon the suspicions and 
distrust excited, and, we must add, mistakes and misrepresent- 



35 

ations made in reference to our orthodoxy and soundness in the 
faith, with which God, in His providence, allowed the minds and 
mouths of those we loved to be filled. The trial was severe, but 
He has given strength to bear it. 

It had pleased Him greatly to bless and prosper our labors, 
admitting us to close and earnest wrestling with Himself, teaching 
us invaluable lessons of practical piety and wisdom " in the reve- 
lation and knowledge" of Christ. If, therefore, as in Jacob's 
case, " He touched the hollow of his thigh," and, the sinew 
shrinking, he that was a prince had power with God and with, 
men, and prevailed, was ever thereafter made to go halting, what 
were we, or what right had we to complain, if it pleased Him to 
cripple our influence, and humble us before Him ? It is enough, 
for us to know, that when He lays one instrument aside He can 
employ others. Blessed be His name, the cause of Truth and 
Right can never be crushed out of the earth ! It may, like the 
master Himself, be crucified and lie buried for a season, but it 
will rise again. 

In the happy reunion of this occasion we have a faint fore- 
shadowing of that glorious epoch when the righteousness of His 
people shall be brought forth to light, and His judgment as the 
noonday; when we shall all assemble from the East and West, 
the North and South, around our blessed Master at His coming, 
the company of His redeemed, to find in our love of Him a bond 
of fellowship and a channel of sympathy, which the divisions 
and distractions of earth, the art and malice of Satan, the very 
powers of death and the grave, could not destroy, but which are 
designed of God to perfect that fellowship through all eternity 
which He condescends to let us have " with the Father, by the 
Son, through the Holy Spirit." This is the glorious epoch now, 
toward which my eyes, not yet " dim with age," are directed ; 
around which my fondest hopes have clustered ; and to which I 
feel, that, by the flight of time, I am rapidly borne. 

When in youth and middle life, there were always interme- 
diate stages in advance — changing relations and scenes of earth, 
to which desires tended ; but now, within three days of having 
passed "the grand climacteric" of mortal existence, I lift my 
thoughts and aspirations above the ever-fluctuating events of this 
perishing world, and look more ardently than ever for " that 



36 

blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and 
our Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us that }ie 
luight redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a 
peculiar people zealous of good works j" and "who shall come to 
be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that 
believe." 

Allow rae, then, beloved hearers, in conclusion, to improve 
the cursory review we have taken of the past, by a few reflections 
appropriate to the present. 

1. W/iat has a century xoroiiglit ! This church, one hun- 
dred years ago, stood upon the border of the wilderness. The 
tide of immigration and civilization was but just beginning to 
start its plowings in advance of the great Ocean waves. The 
flood has since rolled, in its mighty volume, and carried its myr- 
iads and millions thousands of miles toward, and even beyond, 
the Rocky Mountains ! You have your Barracks still the memorial 
of your frontier condition, but you are left near the P^astern verge 
of the spreading population, which God in His providence has 
sown broadcast through the length and breadth of these United 
States. 

The State of Pennsylvania had scarcely enlarged her peopled 
territory beyond a hundred miles. Now, three and thirty States 
stretch their broad wings over thousands of miles, and the flag 
of our Union waves from Maine to California, from the Atlantic 
to the Pacific Ocean I A few feeble Colonies have grown into a 
a confederacy of free and independent States, of greater moral 
power and prosperity than ever were attained by the Empires of 
Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece or Rome ! 

The piety and prowess, the principles and spirit of our an- 
cestors — the men of foith and valor— led the way. They were 
"An handful of corn in the earth on the top of the mountains; 
the fruit thereof shakes like Lebanon ; and they of the city 
flourish like the grass of the earth." " The Lord hath indeed 
done great things for us, whereof we are glad." To Him be the 
praise. His providenee alone is the source and security of our 
greatness. Let us hail its developments for the encouragment 
of our hope for the future, 

2. Another century — and xchat shall we he ? The men of 
thia day, old and young, shall have passed away. These walls. 



37 

within which we worship, may yet stand, and this land remain, 
but whether this great confederacy shall be under His gracious 
eye, and still be prospered by the good providence of God, will 
depend upon the honor or dishonor, which, as a people, we put 
upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Ere that day, His blessed feet may 
have stood again, as it is predicted they shall, upon the Mount of 
Olives(a), and His work of retribution in the earth been consum- 
mated in the ruin of nations that have opposed His sway, cor" 
rupted His Gospel, and apostatized from its profession. God 
grant, that, as a people, we may ever appreciate that Gospd, 
cherish and evince its spirit, practice its precepts, and be claimed 
by Him as "the uttermost part of the earth for His possession." 
God grant, that this church may still remain firm in her loyalty 
to Christ our glorious Head, and pure in her faith and practice of 
that (jiospel, a living monument of His love and care ! 

But whatever may befall our country and the churches in it, 
we need be in no solicitude about the triumph of our Kedecmer. 
He has Infinite wisdom, and the resources of Omnipotence. " The 
day of vengeance is in (His) heart, and the year of His redeemed 
(draws nigh.") " He will tread down the nations in His anger, 
and make them drunk in His fury, and bringdown their strength 
to the earth." " According to their deeds, iiccordingly He will 
repay !" But oh ! it is, and should be, our deepest solicitude, to 
raise as many of our lost and wretched race as possible ; and thus 
increase the conservative power in our country, and multiply 
the arguments for the Divine favor and protection to be continued 
to us. 

To be successful in this, to any degree, we must act well our 
part here, as followers of Christ, in all our relations ; and be faith- 
ful to the end. We must cherish the glorious and everlasting 
truths of the Gospel of the grace of God ; assert the rights and 
honors of Jesus Christ ; and be witnesses for " Him crucified," 
that He is '' risen from the dead," and that " all power and au- 
thority in Heaven and in Earth are given unto Him." Thus 
may we leave a blessing to our children, and the generations after 
us ; and not a curse, to ripen unto utter desolation and perdition, 
at the great day of His appearing. 

(a) Zach. 14, 4. 



38 

" Oh, Thou ! my Countrj', may the future, oa 
Thy sliape majestic stand supreme, as now, 
And every stain, which mars tliy starry robe. 
In the white sun of truth, be bleached away ! 
Hold thy grand posture, with unswerving mien, 
Firm as a statue proud of its bright form, 
Whose purity would daunt tlic Vandal-hand, 
In fury raised to shatter. From thine eye 
Let the clear light of Freedom still dispread, 
The bi'oad, unclouded stationary noon ! 
Still, with thy right hand, on the fasces, lean, 
And with the other, point the living source 
"Whence all thy glory comes ; and where, unseen, 
But still all-seeing, the great patriot souls, 
Whose words and wisdom left us thus enriched, 
Look down, and note, how we fulfil our trust ! 
Still hold, beneath thy fixed and sandal foot, 
The broken sceptre, and the tyrant's gyves ; 
And let thy statue shine above the world — 
A form of terror and of loveliness ! " 

3. What lessons of huniilitf/, unsdom and learning sJionId we 
learn from the jnisf ! We stand on the margin of the past, the 
narrow line that divides us from the future. Clouds and dark- 
ness lie before us. Behind us are the ravages of Time. The 
present seems to wear no change. The sun ever rises and sets 
the same. The seasons roll, in regular succession, their ceaseless 
revolutions. Nature never varies in her grand laws and move- 
ments. But, borne along in the sweep of her great cycles, as we 
look from some eminent point of observation, such as this centen- 
nial day affords, what changes do we descry, in all the shifting 
scenes of life that fill and vary the panorama of our view ! 

Where, where are all the birds that sang 

A hundred years ago ? 
The flowers that all in beauty sprang 
A hundred years ago ? 

The lips that smiled. 
The eyes, that wild. 
In flashes shone 
Soft eyes upon — 
Where, Oh where are lips and eyes, 
.The maiden's smiles, the lover's sighs 
That lived so long ago ? 



39 

"Who peopled all tliese busy sti-eets 

A hundred years ago ? 
Who filled the church -with faces meek 
A hundred years ago ? 

The sneering tale 
Of sister frail, 
The plot that worked 
A brother's hurt, — 
Where, Oh, where are plots and sneers, 
The poor man's hopes, the rifch man's fears, 
That lived so long ago ? 

AVhere are the graves where dead men slept 

A hundred years ago ? 
Who, when they were living, wept, 
A hundred years ago ? 
By other men 
That knew not them 
Their lands are tilled. 
Their graves are filled I 
Yet nature then was just as gay, 
And bi'ight the sun shone, as to-day, 
A hundred years ago ? 

In the dim visions of the past but little is distinctly seen. The 
names are here and float along familiar on the stream — Arm- 
strongs, Blairs, Clarks, Craigheads, Creighs, Chambers, Duncans, 
Davidsons, Flemings, Holmes, Irvines^ Lyons, Murrays, McClures, 
Parkers, Randolphs, Weakleys, Woods, and others. But the 
fathers, where are they ? Vanished like the shadows of the set- 
ting sun. " One generation passeth away and another cometh," 
" Man coraeth forth like a flower, and is cut down ; he fleeth also 
as a shadow and continueth not." " There is hope of a tree, if it 
be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch 
thereof will not cease ; though the root thereof wax old in the 
earth and bring forth boughs like a plant : But man dieth and 
wasteth away; yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? 
As the waters fail from the sea and the flood decayeth and drieth 
up; so man lieth down, and riseth not; till the heavens be no 
more they shall not awake, nor be raised up out of their sleep !" 
"We, too, shall soon lie hidden in the grave, and the places that 
now know us will know us no more. This house, in Avhit-h our 
fathers praised the Lord, stands yet erect, in all its strength and 



40 

symruetery, — externally unchanged by the liand of time, inter- 
nally renovated and garnished by the hand of man, — a monument 
of the faith and piety of our sires ! But the men and women of 
the olden time have ceased to enter it. They liave gone to the 
land whence no traveller returns ! 

The old and sturdy oaks have fallen ! and the scions of later 
growth have decayed. Fathers, children, and children's children 
have disappeared ! yet still they live, in the bright world above; 
and hosts of them shall adorn the Savior's triumph at His coming. 
How many, blessed be God ! have here been reared and nurtured 
in the faith of Jesus, and have hence been transplanted to the 
garden of Heaven, who now flourish in immortal verdure, trees of 
righteousness which the Lord's own right hand hath planted. — 
We, too, shall soon pass away and others occupy our place. The 
flood bears us rapidly on to the great Ocean of Eternity. God 
grant, that it may land us all fast by the throne of our great and 
glorious lledeemer ! 

Let us, then, receive the admonitions of the past and profit by 
the lessons it teaches. " Here we have no continuing city." Let 
us seek that " which hath foundations whose builder and maker 
is God." We are but earth and dust ; and presently our mortal 
part must mingle with the clods of the valley. But, if we be 
'' followers of them, who through faith and patience inherit the 
promises," we, too, shall be gathered to the Lord; and, in the 
coming glory, shall shine as the jewels that adorn the crown of 
our Savior's rejoicing. 

4. Finally: Under icliat ohligationsof (fratitude to God, are 
we placed in vieio of ichat we are perinltted to icitncss and enjoy: 
and how are tee exhorted to honor and bless and magnify the 
name of our glorious Redeemer for all His providence has 
wrought 1 Here the children of our God, sons and dauglitors of 
this church, have gathered for a short season in its bosom, in 
bonds of sweet re-union. Well may it be said to us, as it will be 
by the Lord to the dispersed of Israel, at no distant day, when 
they shall re-assemble in their own land, " Jacob shall not now 
be ashamed ; neither shall his face now wax pale. But when he 
seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of them, 
they shall sanctify my name and sanctify the Holy One of Israel.'' 
Great cause have we, beloved friends, to celebrate His praise ! 



41 

"Thou art holy, Oh Thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. 
Our fathers trusted in Thee, and Thou didst deliver them. They 
cried unto Thee and were delivered. They trusted in Thee and 
were not confounded." 

We have not met in shame and confusion of face, like Israel, 
to confess, "Ouir fathers have sinned and are not, and we have 
borne their iniquity," but to recount the goodness and loving 
kindness of the Lord. Although " they gat their bread with the 
peril of their lives because of the (savage) of the wilderness," 
and although " the archees sorely grieved, and shot at them, and 
were made strong by the mighty God of Jacob." " We have 
heard with our ears, O God : our fathers have told us what work 
Thou didst in their days, in the time of old. How Thou didst 
drive out the heathen with thy hand, and plantedst them, how 
Thou didst afflict the people and cast them out. For they got 
not the land in possession by their own sword; neither did their 
own arm save them; but Thy right hand, and Thine arm, and the 
light of Thy countenance, because Thou hadst favor unto them." 

We rejoice still in that favor. Although, as I cast my eyes 
around, I discern not the hoary hairs of the ag-ed fathers and 
mothers, that, in my youthful ministy, cheered and encouraged 
me by their counsel and their prayers; and although, I miss 
many of the bright blooming youth, that have been taken, in the 
noon and freshness of their day, to the upper Sanctuary ; yet, 
thanks to the good providence of God, that here this day I am 
permitted to meet so many of my early cotemporaries, and still 
more of their cbildrcn on whom I poured the babtismal water in 
token of God's gracious covenant, whom I was the means of lead- 
ing, while yet young, to the table of our Lord, to acknowledge 
their covenant obligations, and to enter into the holy bonds of 
marriage union with the Lamb. Blessed be God, that they have 
continued in the faith of Jisus, and have not been " led away 
with the error of tlie wicked;" nor " fallen from their own stead- 
fastness." May they be " kept by the power of God, through, 
faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time !" 

I rejoice, also, that the great Head of the Church has ceased 
not, by the ministry of my beloved brother, your pastor, to add 
to your number continually of such as shall be saved. May I 
C 1 



42 

cherish the liope, while I pray, that you, beloved liearers, who 
have not yet avouched the Lord to be your God, may be won by 
the love of Clirist, and become His true and faithful followers. 
See that you fail not of the grace of God, which is unto everlast- 
ing life. And may the (Jod of all grace and consolation abun- 
dantly bless you all with the blessings of Heaven above. " May 
the blessings of 3'our fathers prevail above the blessings of their 
progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills." IMay 
God establish here His dwelling place unto all generations, and 
make it a chosen habitation for His Spirit for evermore ! 

And last, but by no means least in interest and affection, 
would I invoke the presence of our blessed Savior, and the grace 
of His Holy Spirit, on their behalf, as I turn niy thoughts and 
heart, to the soldiers of the Cross, the honored ministers of Christ, 
whom here He chose, and hence hath called out and sent abroad 
through our land, to preach the unsearchable riches of His 
grace. No higher distinction and honor could have been put 
•Qpon them. No more impoi'tant office or holier trust could have 
been committed to them. No crowns, in the bright diadem of 
Heaven, shall shine more resplendent. 

I bless God that " He hath counted you faithful, putting you 
into the ministry." Blessings oti His name, for all that His 
grace and Spirit have wrought by your instrumentality. Cease 
not to proclaim the Gospel of the grace of God; and make i'ull 
proof of your ministry. Tell dying, sinful men of their lost and 
?uincd condition in Adam, of their wretched, helpless and de- 
praved state in themselves by nature, but of the infinite suffici- 
ciency of that atonement which has been provided " through the 
blood of Christ, for the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches 
of His grace, wherein He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom 
and prudence." Tell them that " by the deeds of the law there 
shall no flesh living be justified." Expose the folly, guilt, dan- 
ger, and damnation of men's self-righteous efforts to justify them- 
selves before God; and lead them to " the Lamb of God which 
taketh away the sins of tlio world." LTnfold to them " the 
rtightcousncss of God in Him, which is by the faith of Jesus 
Christ, unto all, and upon all tlicm that believe;" and teach them 
that if ever they are to be justified it must be "freely by His 
grace through the redemption that ia in Christ Jesus." Urgo 



43 

them by the motives of the Gospel to repent of all their trans- 
gressions, and confess their sins, as they own and bow in adora- 
tion at the feet of Jesus Christ, ncknowledging Ills Deity as the 
Eternal Son of God, Ilis gracious sovereignty as the Mediator, 
having " all power and authority in heaven and on earth" put 
into Ilis hands, and the justice of that sentence of the law of God 
which h;is condemned them to the death eternal, if not redeemed 
by the blood and Spirit of Christ. Tell them of the love of 
Christ, the necessity and efficacy of His atonement, and the power 
of His cross. Open up to them the fulness, and the freeness, and 
universality of the invitations of the Gospel. Tell them of the 
"treasures of wisdom and strength," that are laid up in store in 
Him. KeiiiiMd them of the desperate deceitfulness and depravity 
of their own hearts, which need to be renewed and sanctified by 
that Holy Spirit of God, which He hath received without mea- 
sure, and whose gracious office, under Christ, it is, to quicken 
those that are '• dead in trespasses and sins," unto spiritual life. 
Show them the provision and means for their sanctification, that 
God has furnished in the Cross of Christ; and how, by faith in 
the exceeding great and precious promises, we must " cleanse 
ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit, and 
perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord." 

Sec to it that you preach not Philosophy ; nor Politics ; nor 
Science ; nor Natural Theology, as it is called ; nor the abstract, 
useless Theology of the schools; nor mere social reform or mora- 
lity, i)V natural virtue; nor external reformation, through human 
resolutions merely, as though these might be means of saving men 
from their guilt and corruption. None nor all of these things are 
availing to salvation ; nor arc they embraced in your commission. 
But preach '< Christ and Him crucified." He is " the wisdom 
of God and the power of God unto salvation." You forget your 
commission, and throw away your strength, when you substitute 
philosopliy, reason, moral science, fancy, intellectual cultivation 
and refinement, for it, or exalt any teachings of natural science 
or the schools, or any thing above " the everlasting Gospel of the 
grace of God." 

As Paul the aged did his son Timothy, so let me " charge 
you," my beloved sons, " before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, 
who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and 



44 

kingdom. Preach the word, and be instant in season and out of 
season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doc- 
trine. For the time will come," yea, is already come, " when 
they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own hearts, 
shall they heap up to themselves teachers, having itching ears ; 
and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be 
turned unto fables." (Myths.) 

"But ye. Oh men of God, flee these things and follow after 
righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight 
the good fight of faith ; lay hold on eternal life, whercunto ye 
are also called, and have professed a good profession before many 
witnesses." 

" I give you charge in the sight of God who quickeneth all 
things, and before Christ Jesus, who, before Pontius Pilate, wit- 
nessed a good cotifession, that you keep this commandment, with- 
out spot, unrebukeable unto the appearing of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, which, in His time, Ue shall shew, wb.o is the blessed and 
only potentate, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who only 
hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can ap- 
proach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see, — to whom 
be honor and power everlasting. Amen 1" 




c; 



(p. 5.) Col. John Armstrong, under date of June SOth, 1757, 
wrote as follows to Ptichard I'eters, Esq., of Philadelphia : 

''Carlisle, Jnne^O, 1757. 
" To-morrow wo begin to haul stones for the building of a 
meeting-house, on the north side of the Square. There was no 
other convenient place. I have avoided the place you once pitched 
upon for a church. The stones are raised out of Col. 8tanwix's 
entrenchments; we will want help in this, political as well as re- 
ligious work." 



(p. 7.) John O'Neal, despatched by Governor Hamilton in 
May, 1753, to Carlisle, for the purpose of repairing the fortifica- 
tions, among other things reported, under date of the 27th of 
May, 1753 : 

" A pure Spring runs to the East, called Le Tort, after the 
Indian interpreter Avho settled on its head about the year 1720." 
It has its source two miles South, is in fact the reappearance of 
a subterranean branch of the Yellow Breeches creek. 



c 

(p. 8.) In thesame year, 1753, another "stockade" of very curious 
construction was erected, whose western gate was in High street, 
between Hanover and Pitt streets, opposite lot number one hun- 
dred. This fortification was thus constructed : Oak logs about 
seventeen feet in length, were set upright in a ditch dug to the 
depth of four feet. Each log was about twelve inches in diameter. 
In the interior, were platforms made of clapboards, and raised lour 



4C 

or five foct from the ground. Upon these the men stood and fired 
throu^li loop-holes. At each corner was a swivel gun, which was 
occasionally fired " to let the Indians know that such kind of 
guns were within." 

Three wells were f-unk within the line of the fortress, one of 
which was on lot number one hundred and twenty-five ; another 
on the line between lots numbered one hundred and nine and one 
liundred and seventeen; and the third on the line between lots 
numbered one hundred and twenty-four and one hundred and six- 
teen. This last was lor many years known as the " Kind's Well." 
Within this fort, called " Fort J^outher," women and children from 
Green Spring and the country around, often sought protection 
from the tomahawk of the savage. Its force, in 1755, consisted 
of fifty men, and that of Fort Franklin, at Shippcnsburg, of the 
same number. At a somewhat later day, or perhaps about the 
same time, breastworks were erected a little north-east of the town 
— as it was then limited — by Colonel Stanwix, some remains of 
which still exist. — Ext. from Charter and Ordinances of Carliale. 



(p. 9.) Gen. "Washington, under date of August 23, 1778, in 
a letter to Congress, says of Col. xVrmstrong: " He served during 
the last war, in most of the campaigns to the northward, was 
honored with the command of the Pennsylvania forces, and his 
general military conduct and spii'it much approved by all who 
served with him; besides which, his character was distinguished 
by an enterprize against the Indians, which he planned with great 
judgment, and executed with equal courage and success." — ^i»i. 
A:ciu'i:rs, Vi^L JII , iK'io series, J). 244. 

He was recommeitdcd in the same letter for an appointment in 
the revolutionary army, by Gen. Washington, as he says, unknown 
to him, and was appointed by Congress a Brigadier General. 
Irving, in his Life of Washington, gives the following account 
of the expedition of Col. Armstrong against the Indians at Kit- 
tanning : 

" We have to record one signal act of retaliation on the per- 
fidious tribes of the Ohio, in which a person, whose name subse- 
quently became dear to Americans, was concerned. Prisoners, 
who had escaped irom the savages, reported that Shingis, Wash- 
ington's fiiithless ally, and another Sachem, called Capt. Jacobs, 
were the two heads of the hostile bands that had desolated the 
frontier; that they lived at Kittanning, an Indian town, about 
twenty miles above Fort Du(|ucsne, at which their warriors were 
fitted out for incursions, and whither they returned with their 
prisoners and plunder, (.aptain Jacobs was a daring fellow, and 
scofled at palisaded forts. ' He would take any Ibrt/ he said, 
'that would catch fire.' 



47 

"A party of two hundred and cip.hty provincials, resolute 
men, undertook to surprise and destroy this savaiic nest. It was 
commanded by (joL John Armstrong; and witli him went TJoctor 
(now (\iptain) [I ugh fiercer, eager to revenge the ravage atrocities 
of which he had been a witness at (he defeat of ]jradduek. 

'' Armstrong led his men ra]iidly, but secretly, over mountain 
and through forest, until, after a long and perilous march, they 
reached the Ohio. It was a moonlight night when they arrived 
in the neighborhood of Kittanning. They were guided to the 
village by whoops and yells, and the sound of the Indian druiu. 
The warriors were celebrating their exploits by the triumphant 
scalp-dance. After a while the revel ceased, and a number of 
fires appeared here and there in a corn-field. Tliey were made by 
such of the Indians as slept in the open air, and were intended to 
drive off the gnats. Armstrong and his men laid down 'quiet 
and high,' observing every thing narrowly, and waiting until the 
moon should set, and the warriors be asleep. At length the moon 
went down ; the fires burned lov/ ; all was (juict. Amistrong now 
roused his men, some of whom, wearied by their long march, had 
fallen asleep. He divided his I'orces; part were to attack the 
warriors in the corn-field, part were despatched to the houses, 
which were dindy seen by the first streak of day. 'Iherc was 
sharp firing in both quarters, for tlic Indians, though taken by 
surprise, fuught bravely, inspired by the war-whoop of their chief. 
Captain Jacobs. The women and children fled to the woods. 
Several of the provincials were killed and wounded. Capt. Hugh 
Mercer received a wound in the arm, and was taken to the top of 
a hill, llie fierce chieftain, Capt. Jacobs, was besieged in his 
house, which had port-holes ; whence he and his warriors made 
havoc among the assailants. 'J he adjoining houses were set on 
fire. Ihe chief was summoned to surrender himself. He re- 
plied, he was a man, and would not be a prisoner. He was told 
he would be burnt. His reply was, ' he would kill lour or five 
before he died.' The flames and smoke approached. 'One of the 
besieged warriors, to show his manhood, began to sing. A sejuaw 
at the same time was heard to cry, but was severely rebuked by 
the men.' — Lctfer from Col. Armifrhiig. 

"In the end, the warriors were driven out by the flames; 
some escaped and some were shot. Among the latter was Capt. 
Jacobs, and his gigantic son, said to be seven i'eet high. lire 
was now set to all the houses, thirty in nunjber. 'Luring the 
burning of the houses,' says Col. Aimstrong, ' we were agreeably 
entertained with a quick succession of charged guns, gradually 
firing ofl'as reached by the fire, but much more .-o, with ihe vast 
explosion of sundry bags and large kegs of powder, wheiewith 
almost every house abounded.' Ihe Colonel was in a strange 
condition to enjoy such an entertainment, having received a wound 
from a large musket-ball in the shoulder. 



48 

'' Tlie object of the cx]iodition was accompHshed. Thirty or 
forty of the warriors were ylain ; their strong-hold was a smoking 
ruin. Iherc was danger of the victors being cut oft' by a detacli- 
mcnt from Fort Du(jucsne. 1 bey made the best of their way, 
therefore, to their horses, Avliich had been left at a distance, and 
set off, rapidly, on their march homewards." — Irving s Life of 
Wash i III/ lull, Vol. Z,j>/>. 241-3. 



(p 19.) The Tlsv. Geo. DuS^ld, D.D., previously to his transla- 
tion to the Third Presbyterian church of Philadelphia, in 177o, was 
Pastor of the United Congregations of Carlisle and Big Spring. 
The latter, by the advice of Presbytery, he gave up in 17G9; and 
the congregation of Monaghan, now Dillstown, became pai'tof his 
charge for two years before the close of his labors in Carlisle. The 
place of worship in which the congregation of Monaghan assem- 
bled on the Sabbath, was situated near that of the present edifice, 
and was a fortified post. ^Vithin the ramparts thrown around, 
the men and women of that perilous day assembled to worship 
God ; the former kept their arms by their sides, during the reli- 
gious services ; guards were stationed to watch and give the alarm, 
should any straggling bands of hostile Indians appear in sight. 
The late John McDowell, L L. ])., Provost of the University of 
Pennsylvania, in the city of Philadelphia, remembered, when a 
youth, to have heard Dr. Duffield preach there, and on one occa- 
sion, in a very apposite introduction to his discourse, from Zach. 
9 : 12 — " Turn ye to your stronghold," kc. — allude to the fortifica- 
tions, fallen into decay, still suiToundlng the building, as a '' strong- 
hold" far inferior to that which the " prisoners of hope" had in 
Jesus Christ their Savior. That discourse, he said, was the means 
of his awakening and conversion. 



F 

(p 19.) The posts provided by the government, in the Cumber- 
land Valley, at Carlisle, Sliippcnsburg, and Loudon, each gar- 
risoned with about seventy men, afi'orded little or no protection. 
Separated by great distances, the Indians, in their incursions, 
could readily avoid them, as they did, and find still a wide field 
for an inhuman war, regardless of age, sex, or infancy. So re- 
peated were the massacres of the inhabitants of Cumberland 
Valley, for years, that three-fourths of them, with their families, 
sought shelter and safety in the eastern pai'ts of Lancaster and 
York counties. The men often returned to occupy some dwellings 



40 

that escaped the torch of the savaue, and co-operate, with others, 
to watch and resist the Indians, whose mode of warfare was secrecy 
and surprise, murder of tlie defenceless, and a hasty retreat. The 
nuniher of white inhabitants, in this valley, slain, scalped, or car- 
ried into captivity, was <>reat. The whole extended valley was made 
one of desolation and blood — every nei,;i:hborhood had its own victims. 
The Indian warriors estimated, that in the first years of this war 
they killed fifty whites to one Indian that was killed, :md in after 
years, when the white inhabitants better understood their warfare, 
they still killed ten whites for one of their nation killed by the 
white inhabitants. This great disproportion arose from the 
slaughter by the Indians of women and children, for whose .sfr///>s- 
their French allies rewarded them liberally." — A Trihute in Prin- 
ciples, &".,nf the Irish and Scotch Settlers of Fennsijlvania, pp. 
67-68, hi/ a deseendant, {George Cltumhers.) 

" The ground was plouo-hod, the seed sown, and the harvest 
gathered, under the fear of the tomahawk and rifle. Scarcely 
any out-door labor was safely executed, unless protected by arms 
in the hands of the laborers, or by regular troops. Women, visit- 
ing their sick neighbors, were shot or captured ; children, driving 
home cattle from the field, were killed and scalped ; whilst the- 
enemy, dastnrdly as well as cruelly, shrunk fritm every equality 
offeree. iMany of the richest neighborhoods v.^ere deserted, and 
property of every kind was given up to the foe. JNIany instances 
of heroism were displayed by men, women, and children, in de- 
fense of themselves and their homes, and in pursuing and combat- 
ting the enemy. There was certainly a great want of ability and 
eneviry in the constituted authorities, and the government of the 
Province United councils, and well-directed efforts, might have 
driven the barbarians to their snvage haunts, and repealed the 
chastisement they receivf>d at Kittanning, until they sued fiir 
peace. But imbecility distinguished the British Ministers and 
oificers, and paralyzed the efforts of the Provinces, especially that 
of Pennsylvania." — Gordons History of Pennsylvania, p. 383. 



o 

(p. 2?,.') Copy of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independ- 
ence, adopted May 20, 1775: 

1. Resolved, That whosoever directly or indirectly abetted, 
or in any way, form or manner, countenanced the uncliartered 
and dangerous invasion of our rights, as claimed by Great Britain, 
is an enemy to this country, to America, and to the inherent and 
iualicnabic rights of 31an. 



50 

2. Resolved, That we, the citizens of Mecklenburs^ County, 
do hereby dissolve the political bands which have connected us 
to the mother country, and hereby absolve ourselves from all alle- 
giance to the i?/-»V/s/i Croirn, and abjure all political connection con- 
tract, or association with that Nation, who have wantonly trampled 
on our rights and liberties, and inhumanly shed the blood of 
American patriots at Lexington. 

3. Resolved, That we do liereby dec/are ourselves a free and 
independent people; are, and of ric/ht ought to he, a sovereign 
and self g-rvern hvj association , under the control of no power fither 
than that of OUR Goi), and the general Government of the Con- 
gress; to the maintainance of which independence we solemnly 
pledge to e tch other our mutual cooperation, our lives, our for- 
tunes, and our most sacred honor. 

4. Resolved, That as we now acknowledge the existence and 
conttoul of no law or legal officer, civil or military, within this 
country, we do hereby ordain and adopt as a rule of lii'e, all, each 
and every of our forn)er laws; wherein, nevertheless, the 
Crown of Great Britain never can be considered as holding rights, 
privileges, immunities, or authorities therein. 

5. Resolved, That it is i'urther decreed, that all, each and 
every military officer in this County, is hereby reinstated in his 
former command and authority, he acting conformably to these 
regulations ; and that every member present of this delegation 
shall henceforth be a civil officer, viz: a Justice of the Peace, in 
the character of a '■'■Committee man," to issue process, hear and 
determine all matters of controversy, according to said adopted 
laws, and to preserve peace, union and harmony in said County; 
and to use every exertion to spread the love of country and fire 
of freedom throuuhout America, until a more general and organ- 
ized government be established in the Province. 

After discussing the foregoing resolves, and arranging by-laws 
and regulations for the government of a Standing Committee of 
Public Safety, who wei'e selected from their delegates, the whole 
proceedings were unanimously adopted and signed. A Select 
Committee was then appointed to draw a more full and definite 
statement of grievances, and a more formal Declaration of Inde- 
pendeiice. The delegation then adjourned about 2 o'clock, A. M. 
— Am. Archives, Vol. IL, p. 85G Note. 

The Piev. llczekiah J. Balch, a Presbyterian minister, was a 
conspicuous member of the delegation, and took an active part in 
its proceedings He was held in high repute as a fine scholar 
and a man of piety. 



H 

(p. 24.) The blood shed at the battle of Lexington is com- 
monly believed and said to have been the frst drawn in the con- 



51 

test of the Colonists with the oppressive authorities of the British 
Government. The followinu- curious document, ^vhieh was copied 
by Mr. 11. E. xMix, of Cleveland, Oliio, from the Kejiulators' 
Docket at Ilillsboro' C. H., Orange County, North Carolina, 
April 18tli, 1848, (and which has politely been forwarded to me 
by him), would lead us further back than the battle of Lexington, 
for the tirst blood shed in the cause of Freedom, and show that 
the spirit of liberty and indepeudence was rife enough in the 
Colonies before that day to make forcible resistance to oppression. 
The Assembly of N". Carolina, on November 4th, 1769, declared 
against the right of Great Britain to tax the Colonies, and in 1770 
a public insult was offered to the authorities. 



Trial Causes. P. 0. Hillsboro' Sup'r CorRT. 
September Term, A. D. 1770. 



John Williams 

vs. 
Rob't. Mitchell. 


Case 
6 


General Issue 


Pay costs nndbeput 
in the stocks. Prff. 


Wm. Brown 

vs. 
John Brown. 


Detainer 
7 


General Issue 


A shame for name- 
sakes. 



Isaiah Ilogan 

vs 
Hnrmon Husbands. 



Case 
21 



! Hogan pay and be 
General Issue d — d. 



Michael Wilson 

vs. 
David Harris. 



J. A. B. 

25 



I Plea in abatement All Harris' are 
filed. rogues. 



John Edwards 

vs 
Philip Edwards. 


Case 

Non-assessment 
24 


D— d shnme. 


Solomon Tirrell 

vs. 
James Tirrell. 


Attach- ! Executed on two 
ment Negroes. 


Negroes not worth 
a d d. Cost ex- 
ceeds the whole. 


John Child 

vs. 
Richard Simpson. 


Case 
5 


Ref'ce. 
Vide Mem. Book. 


D— d roguery. 


Peter Noaj 

vs. 
Edward Fanning. 


Appeal 
16 


App'd by consent. 


Fanning must pay. 



Edward Fanning 

vs. 
Abraham Smith. 



Trova 
18 



Judgment by de- 
fault. 



Fanning pays cost, 
but loses nothiug. 



Thomas Richards. 

vs. 
Robinson York. 



Case 
49 



I (General issue by 
mistake). General 
issue — not but plea 
of abatement, 



Plaintiff pays all, 
and gets his body 
scourged for bias- 
iphemy. 



o2 



Kobert Reed, Jr. 

rs 
Nanpv Husbands. 



Debt. 
71 



Non est factum. 



il'laintiif pays cost. 



Valentine Boswell 
Dunean M'Neal. 



Case 
8G 



I Declaration plcnj File and be d— d. 
to be tiled. 



John Knicbrough 

vs. 
William Alston. 



William Roberts 

vs. 
William Todd. 



Ca.se Executed. | Executed by a d— d 

l.roseph Brj'ant bail vogue. Bail not suf- 
07 I jficient. 

Plaintitr pays costs. 



App'l. 



Ko entry. 



Thomas Pason 




Pa.son cniinty 
named after Pason 






vs. 
William Todd. 


Appeal. 


— being ivealthy 
and used his pro- 
perty in the cause 
of freedom. 


Pason 


IS cienr. 



Edward Fanning wa.s Clerk of the Court. Thp Regulation 
Clerk, who wrote most of the above decisions, was a school-mas- 
ter named York, from Randolph County. 

liiH.^borough, N. C, on the Eno, named in honor of the Earl 
of Hillsborough, 8ec'yofStatefor American Affairs. — l^ettled 1 759. 
It was the seat of the Provincial Congress of North Carolina of 
1775; head-quarters of Gen. Gates after his defeat at Camden, 
and his adversary, Lord Cornwallis, (Old Tavern his quarters, 
Morris'.) Col. Edward Fannning was a most "[ipressive officer of 
the (h'own. The object of the Regulators, or "the Regulation," 
was to resist extortion by Fanning and other officers, who de- 
manded illegal fees, issued false deeds, levied unathorized taxes, 
&c. Harmon Flusbands was the chief mover, drew the reslutions, 
&c., &c., but cleared out when it came to blows. The multitude 
went to the Court House, appointed a man by the name of York 
as Clerk, set up a mock Judge, and pronounced judgment in 
mock-gravity and ridicule of the Court, law, and officers, by 
whom they felt themselves aggrieved. Soon after, the house, barn 
and out-buildings of the Judge were burned to the ground. 

Gov. Tryon went with a small force to suppress the Regu- 
lator;?, and an engagement took place near Alamance creek, on the 
16th of May, 1771. Nine Regulators and twenty-seven militia 
were killed, and many wounded. This was the Jiraf h/ood shed 
in the difhculties between England and America. Fourteen men 
were killed by one man- — James Pugh — from behind a rock. 



53 



Battle Gronnd of the Alamance. 



British rrravos. 



Re;ru1ator«. 



[Tm] 




■ D 

Pupil's Kock. 



[The above drnff and notes were made on the gi'onnd, near Alamnnco 
creek, North Carolina, and the copy taken from the Regulators' docket, 
by R. E. Mix.] 



(p. 31.) The following is a copy of the paper referred to: 

" jMay 17, 1749 — -A motion was made by some members for 
making proposals for re union with the Synod of Philadelphia; 
the further consideration of that affair adjourned till to-morrow 
morning. 

" 18th, 7 o'clock, A. M. — The motion for an union belwcen 
this Synod and that of Philadelphia came to be considered, and 
it was carried by a great majority, that proposals for an union be 
made to the Synod of Philadelphia in the following words, viz : 

" ' The Synod of New York are deeply sensible of the many 
unhappy consequences that flow from our present divided state; 
and have with pleasure observed a spirit of moderation increasing 
in many of the members of both Synods. Ihis opens a door of 
hope, that if we were united in one body we might be able to 
carry on the designs of religion in future peace and agreenitnt 
to our mutual peace and satisfaction, and although we retain the 
same sentiments of the work of God, which we formerly did, yet 
we judge mutual forbearance our duty, since we all piofess the 
same Confession of Faith and Directory of worship. We would, 
therefore, humbly propose to our brethren of the Synod of Phila- 
delphia, that all our differences be buried in perpetual oblivion, 



54 

and for the time to come, both S3'nocls be united into one; and 
thenceforth there be no contention between ns, but cari-y toward 
each otlier, in the most peaceable manner, which we are ptirsnaded 
will be for the lionor of our master, the credit of our profession, 
and the edification of the churches committed to our care. Accord- 
ingly we appoint the Eev. Messrs. John Pierson, Gilbert Ten- 
nent, Ebenezer Pemberton. and Aaron Burr, to be our delegates 
to wait on the Synod of I'hiladelphia with these proposals; and 
if the Synod of Philadelphia will see meet to join with us in this 
design, and will please to ajipoint a Commission for said purpose, 
we appoint the Kev. Messrs. John Pier.son, Ebenczcr Pemberton, 
Aaron Burr, Gilbert and William Tennent, liichard Treat, Sam- 
uel or John Blair, John Roan, Samuel Finley, Ebenezer 
Prime, David Bostwick, James Brown, (whom we have appointed 
a Commission ibr the ensuing vear) to meet with the Commission 
of Philadelphia Synod, at such time and place as they shall choose, 
to determine the affair of the union, agreeable to the preliminary 
articles concluded by this Synod ; and it is provided, that any 
others of our members who shall please to meet with the Coin- 
mission, shall have liberty of voting in this matter equally with 
the Commission. 



"'THE PRELIMINARY ARTICLES. 

" ' That all names of distinction which have been made use of 
in tlie late times be forever abolished ; that every member consent 
to the Westminster Confession of Faith and Directory, according 
to the plan formerly agreed to by the Synod of Philadelphia in 
the year — ; that every member promise, that after the question 
has been determined by a major vote, he will actively concur with, 
or passively submit to, the judgment of the body ; and if his con- 
science permit him to comply with neither of these, that then 
he shall be obliged to withdraw from our Synodical communion, 
■without any attempt to make a schism or division among us. Yet 
this is not intended to extend to any cases but those which the 
Synod judge essential to doctrine or discipline ; that all our re- 
spective congregations and vacancies be acknowledged as congre- 
gations belonging to the Synod, but continue under the care of the 
same Presbytery as now they are, until a favorable opportunity pre- 
sents for an advantageous alteration ; that we all agree to esteem 
and treat it as a censurable evil, to accuse any of our members of 
error in doctrine or immorality of conversation, any otherwise 
than by private reproof, till the accusation has been brought be- 
fore a regular judicature and issued according to the known rules 
of our discipline*' 



CEcutenuiiil Ctlcljnttioit of tlic iirst ^Trtsbntcriau €\i\mh 



[From the Carlisle Herald of July 8th, 18o7.] 

The first day of the present month was observed by the First Pres- 
byterian con;^reg.ilion of Carlisle, as the one huiidreth an.iiversary of 
its existence in this borough, and in compliance with invitaticms sent 
forth by its comtnittee of arrangements, a large assembly, composed of 
strangers from abroad, and those in this region wlio were interested in 
such a celebration, were present. 

After the usual devotional exercises, in whicli the Rev. Dr. Dewitt, 
of Harrisburg, in a very fervent pr.-iyer, gave utterance to tlie emotions 
of the assemb y, in view of the divine mercies during the past century, 
the pastor of the congregation explained the reasons which had led to the 
celebration of the day, and the arrangements wliicli had been made for it. 

In the absooce of Ur Uuffield of Detroit, who was contidentiy ex- 
pecte I until the last moment. Rev. Geouge Dufkield. jr , the pastor of 
the Central Church of the Northern Liberties, in I'iuladelphia, was 
called upon to take iiis place. 

The text, in the spirit of which he said he would endeavor to address 
the assembly on such an unusual solemn and interesting occasion, was 
Proverbs xiii , 23 : *■ A good man leaveth an inheritance to children 
and to children's children." He then alluded to some circumstances 
connected with his youth and childhood, which he had spent in connec- 
tion with this congregation while his father was its pastor, and that he 
might give full play to his imagiaatiiai, supposed him-elf standing a 
hundred and seventeen years since upon the highest point of the North 
mountain and overlooUing the valley below. Me then passed in review 
the mo-st striking incidents which have since taken place in this region. 
Tiie first scene was one in which the original Indians, who had come 
from the Carolinas and Georgia, and had settled on these lands, in 
friendly union with the Six Nations. He next bf held a solitary French 
trader, .James Le Tort, whose iiiimc has since been given to the Lotort 
Spring, wiiicli so beautifully watered the vicinity of the town, and he 
noticed the happy providence which had saved us from the predomi- 
nance of French principles and the Roman Catholic religion. Next 
were seen large companies of men and women principally from Scot- 
land and Ireland, penetrating the wilderness, in search of home and 
free lorn, and he drew a vivid picture of the sufferings and calamities of 
the settlers when the defeat of RradJock. and the di.-per.-iion of his 
army, had left the frontiers open to the incursions of the savages 

' But, tha'dvs to God," said the speaker, ''a ji.\n was raised up for 
the Times wlio was equal to them and who hud men of the right stamp 
to back him ; Col. Armstrong, the iirst elder of this Church— the Hero 
of ICntaunng — whose remains sleep in yonder grave yard. But 
now that they have been unnoticed to the close of the century, let his 
monument be a worthy one! Worthy of this section of the country for 
which he diil so n.uch, and where he was the master Spirit for so long 
a time The church, the town and the county, owe a duty in this res- 
pect, which they should discharge without delay ! Let his monument 
be reared I 

At this point the speaker gave a birds-eye view of the ecclesiastical 
history of the county. Silver Spring, Big Spring, and the springs 
afterward known as the " Meeting house Springs," he thought >ve)e tit 
types and emblems of the churches erected in their vicinity, fountains 
of reli:j;iou I smrces of glorious revivals greater than which had scarcely 
been seen in the history of our country. 



66 

Glowing with his theme as he pvoccederl, the conclusion of his dis- 
course \v:i-< a genuine and utHnl!5tak;il,)le out pouring of his hejirt, as 
awakened by tiie circumstances of the occasion. Where was the old 
man ? the mm of middle age ? the young ? -even the babe in its moth- 
er's arms ? that a hundred years ago had witnessed the laying of the 
corner stone of that edifice I Gone ! all gone ! 

Gone from the church millitant to that triumphant ! 

Tlia church above and that below 
But oue coiumuuiou make ' 

Heaven was touching earth this day, in this Sanctuary we felt it in 
our inmost souls ! As we looked up we could almost see our fathers 
who had passed into the skies, looking down from the crystal battle- 
ments of the heavenly Zion, and smiling upon us in our solemn and 
delightful services. A good inheritance they have feft to us as their 
childr^Mi ; be it our care to transmit it unimpared to ours. 

The Rev. Talbot W. Chambers, D. D , one of the ministers of the 
Collegiate Rcfermed Dutch Church of New York in a very neat and im- 
pressive addre-s, al'uded to his early connection with the Ciiurch, and 
acknowledged his great obligations to its former Pastor, session. Sabbath 
school, and membership, but dwelt, with particular emphasis, upon tiie 
fidelity and tenderness of the Rev Dr. Dnfheld, his vast influence, his 
large success, his labors with the young and I lie numbers whom he was 
instrumental in leading to enter the sacred office. 

Me justifted the propriety of the present celebration, concluiljng that 
it was not an offering to sectarian vanity, or ancestr;i,l pride, but .a just 
tribute to the memory of our fathers, and an apjn'opriate acknowledg- 
ment of the debt, which every iu'lividual, and every coinmunity. owes to 
the past. He believed that the services would be blessed of God, to the 
promotion of harmony among all Christians here, aud to the spiritual 
ediiication of the brethren of this Ceurch. 

Letters were then read from R,ev. Dr. Bethune, of Brooklyn. N Y. : 
Rev. Dr. Krebs of New York city, N. Y. ; Rev, J. Holmes .Agiiew, of 
Pittstield, Mass.: Rev T. V. I\!oore, of Richmond. Va ; and Mr A. 
Armstrong, of HoUidaysburg. Pa. — in whicli the writ(u-s expresseil their 
extreme regret of the necessity of their absence, and warm sympathy 
with the objects of the celebration. 

On Thursday, the Rev Dr. DufTiel 1. who had been accidentally de- 
tained on his way to Carlisle, arrived in towii, and in the eveiiiii'j; a large 
audience attended to hear his address, which was replete with eloquence 
and beauty. He gave an historical view of tiie rise and progress of the 
Presbyterian Church in this County, and alluded, in feeling terms, to 
his loui services as Pastor of the congregation, v.'iiere, a century before, 
his grandfather had ininistered in the same sanctuary. He claimed for 
the Presbyterians of Cumberland County the honor of havinijlit the first 
spark of freedom, in opposition to the aggressions of Great Biit.'.in, and 
paid a handsome iriimte to the old Court Jlousn Bell, wliich. for " three 
generations, had called that congregation to \vors]iii>, and at last yielded 
to the element that gave it, birth and buried itself m its own funeral 
pile." On Friday evening, a lecture was given in the Cliurch, prepara- 
tory to tlie communion services on the following Sabbatii. 

On Saturd/iy. the 4th of July, the Choir, accompanied by a portion 
of the congregation, sought the Meeting House Springs, where they spent 
the day in rambling over the old grave yard, or enjoying the beauty of 
the scenery. 

Taken altogether, the incidents of the eelcbrjition were of the most 
pleasant character, aud will never be forgotten by those who partici- 
pated in the exercises. 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 



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